


Lost Hunter

by Novalight



Category: Destiny (Video Games), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Civil War Team Iron Man, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'll add them as I go - Freeform, Mentally insane Butcher, dad!Cayde-6, he finally gets to dad, like seriosuly, when it says major death its just one character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2019-10-21 07:29:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 22,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17638448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novalight/pseuds/Novalight
Summary: When a powerful Hunter, Axel and her Ghost, Jhin, get transported to another universe, they both have to cope with 'superheros'. The world doesn't need superheros, it needs Guardians.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [N1x3r](https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1x3r/gifts).



> Ok, I decided to do this based off a crazy thought 'what if destiny and the avengers universe crossover'. So here is this terrible story, as I try to use big words and science terms I kind of understand, but should have maybe researched it more. Anyway, this story is gifted to a friend. Hope ya enjoy.

As a Hunter, Axel excelled in her missions and strikes. She was skilled in Solar, Arc and Void. She is the only Hunter who can smoothly switch between a Gunslinger to Nightstalker, or a Arcstrider to Gunslinger.

  
She was quick, slippery and was always on the move. Axel has even been trained personally by her Vanguard, who remarks that she was unique in that she can bend all areas of the Light.

Axel dashes, her boots skidding on the ground as she righted her stance, chasing after the retreating Vex. Her cape, (a gift from her Vanguard as he gave her a 'Dare') blew in the wind.

The Vex mind began to retreat, entering a sparking portal. _'Axel, the portal is unstable! I am getting crazy readings from it. The Vex mind will kill itself!'_ Her Ghost, Jhin, warned.

"I can't let it escape! Who knows where the portal leads!" Axel argued, entering the portal. Vex portals feel strange. She felt herself get ripped apart, before being thrown together.

She exited the portal seconds after the Vex mind, taking a second to survey the area. The Vex had led itself into a trap. Good. Axel grinned underneath her Dare helmet, and she held out her hand.

Her gun, Midnight Coup, was transmitted into her waiting hand. Bring her left hand up to help steady her aim, Axel pointed the powerful gun at the Vex mind. The Vex mind, once it saw there was no escape, turned to face the Guardian.

Before it had the chance to fire upon her, Axel easily finished the Vex with a single head shot. Only after the Vex's corpse had stopped sparking, did she hold her palm open and allow Jhin to appear.

He appeared in a flicker of light. If he could look stern, Jhin would have tried his best to appear so. "That was reckless!" He scolded. "I don't even know where we are!"

That caught Axel's attention. "What?" She asked, furrowing her brow underneath her helmet. She glanced around. The world looked strange. "Which planet are we on? Awoken?"

"Earth." A new voice, male, adds. Axel twirls on her heel with Jhin transmitting out of sight, aiming her gun at a fully armoured Titan. The Titan was missing his Titan Mark, but he appeared to be a Titan. She relaxed, easily sliding her gun into her sheath.

"Ah, Titan. It is good to know I can always rely on a brother." Axel said, Jhin resting against her conscious. He was anxious, that she could tell. But anxious for what, she had no idea.

The Titan appeared confused, told by his body language. He was hesitating. No Titan would hesitate, even if they were reborn. Axel grew suspicious and continued with her smokescreen. "Tell me, brother, do you know where I am?"

"Earth, New York." The Titan replied, his armour looking more and more machine. 

_'New York? But that city, along with the EDZ, has became bare,'_ Jhin commented. _'Stall for time, I'm going to hack a satellite.'_

"Ah. Thank you for telling me. Tell me, what is your name?" Axel said, removing her helmet. Her short, fluffy hair puffed up, as if it was offended by her helmet. Axel knew she was known for her beauty, along with her skills.

"Stark. Tony Stark." Stark replied, his voice faint as she watched her. He watched as her helmet disappeared in a flash, the atoms seemingly ripping apart and pulling. She pulled the same trick, only with bringing a gun out of thin air. (He wondered when the Black hole was going to appear to kill everyone on Earth)

_'Axel, you need to get out of here! We are in another dimension!'_ Jhin shouted, Axel not flinching despite her Ghost shouting into her brain. _'Take the Vex and go!'_

Smiling, Axel easily picked up the heavy Vex mind, despite it being around a ton in weight. She continued to smile as she threw the Vex mind back into the portal, which looked very unstable.

However, before she could enter the portal herself, it collapsed, sending her flying. She made the mistake of bracing, her neck snapping when she hit her head. Her nervous system was instantly shattered, along with her brain stem and vertebrae. She felt only a brief hint of pain before darkness.

Axel had died.

Tony Stark had watched the woman die. He froze. He watched as a small floating robot hovered above the woman, its shell(?) expanding, sending a bright light over everything in sight. Tony had to close his eyes, the light too bright for his eyes.

When the light had dimmed, the small robot was gone. Suddenly, the woman jumped to her feet. Tony screamed. Her skin, once a pale with death, was a healthy shade.

With hardly a glance in his direction, the woman ran, her strange cape the last thing Tony saw. Tony stood in shock. The woman was now alive, despite having snapped her neck.

"Boss, are you alright? Your blood pressure is dropping." FRIDAY said, her Irish voice bringing Tony back to the present. 

"I'm fine, FRIDAY. Did you record that?" He asked, hoping that he didn't just imagine a portal open and two aliens appear, with one killing the other and throwing its corpse back into the portal.

"I did. Video footage has been sent to your Lab for further Analysis."


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel and Jhin figure out money and buying clothes.
> 
> More action in the next chapter, I promise.

Axel sighed, finally stopping as she easily ducked into an alley. She had ran eight miles without pausing, not taking the chance that she was followed. If Stark was a real Titan, he could have easily tracked her. But, it seems she's in a world where she is the only Guardian.

Jhin appeared, hovering over her shoulder in worry. Silently, they sat together. Axel held out her hand, willing her Light to take shape. Solar light sparked to life, brightening the alley.

"Jhin, what am I going to do?" Axel's voice broke.

"You can still be a Guardian," Jhin softly said, flying until he was in front of Axel's face. Axel's now dull golden eyes moved up to take the Ghost in. "The Light lives in all places, in all things-"

"-You can block it, even try to stop it, but the Light always finds its way." Axel finished softly, her eyes lighting up with a familiar spark. Her face became determined. 

"Eyes up, Guardian." Jhin encouraged his Guardian. "If we need to continue being Guardians, we'll need a base. However, apparently we need currency to buy land and materials."

Axel frowned, thinking. Slowly, she spoke. "Jhin, how much would Glimmer give us?"

-

"How much is this worth?" 

The clerk jumped, seeing a small bag get thrown in front of him. Not glancing up at the woman (who sounded very demanding, he hates demanding customers), the clerk opened the bag and peered inside. His eyes widen. Inside were small, glowing diamonds that were cut into squares.

"Where did you find these?" He asked, picking one out of the bag and holding it up to the light. The diamond was unlike any he had ever seen. He brought his hand down, finally looking at the woman.

The woman looked like a soldier, was the clerks first thought. She was wearing armour, which appeared well worn. Hovering by her shoulder was a small robot, who was watching the clerk with a single blue optic.

"Miss, what are these diamonds called?" He asked. The woman and robot shared a glance.

"Glimmer. Where I am from, it is a form of currency," The woman said, watching the clerk carefully. "How much is one worth?" 

"Oh! It would be in the billions, I'm sure!" The clerk said, holding up the biggest 'Glimmer' that was in the small bag. The woman hummed, taking the rest back and placing it in one of her multiple pouches at her waist.

"I do believe I revive money." 

"Of course!" The clerk eyed the woman. "I shall need a card to place the money on."

"A card?" She asked, sharing another long glance with her robot. She was silent, before she nodded to herself. "Ah yes, a debit card. I have one in my back pocket."

The woman reached for one of her back pouches. While her hand was out of view, Jhin placed a brand new credit card into her awaiting hand. With a blank look, the woman handed the card over.

Once the transaction was done, the clerk cheerfully waved the woman away, telling her to vist anytime.

Once she was out of view of the shop, Axel turned to Jhin. "That went smoothly," She commented. "Good job on this 'Debit Card' issue. Humans of this Earth seem to be obsessed with money."

"Ugh, don't get me started. Once glance at their economy, I can already tell how much money gets pocketed and not re-circulated back into the city." Jhin said, disappearing in a flash of light. _'Firstly, I think we should get you normal clothes.'_

"Why?" Axel asked, glancing down at her armour. "My armour is perfectly functional."

_'Axel, look around you.'_ Jhin told his Guardian. Golden eyes glance around, and saw how many looks she was receiving. She frowned, feeling Jhin preen in smugness. _'The people find your attire strange, and that makes you stand out'_

Axel huffed, changing her direction. She marched her way towards a mall, which is built similar enough to the City that she had no trouble moving around. Many people moved out of her way, glancing back as they continued on their path.

She entered a store called 'Next', which had a large selection of women's clothing. Axel took one look at the section before walking upstairs to the Men's section. There, she easily picked out t-shirts which were a size too large.

Axel, with Jhin's help, managed to figure out her measurements for jeans. After picking up three random jeans, Axel went to pay. The Cashier seemed confused as to why Axel was buying Men's clothing and wearing armour.

She said in a deadpan voice,"I was dared to."

After using her 'credit card', she was handed her clothes. Axel began to walk outside when Jhin softly spoke in her head. _'Axel....I think you should change into the clothes now before any of the so called superheroes come to investigate.'_

Axel sighed, heading towards the women's toilets. There, her armour disappeared in a flash, leaving her only in her underwear and boots. She quickly changed, leaving the bathroom in minutes as Jhin placed all of her new clothes into their shared pocket dimension.

Axel walked outside, mood turning sour. She was beginning to get stressed out, having to act like a normal human in this day and age.

Everything was easier when she was in her own universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was more of a 'Humans are confusing' take. I tried to look at how the Guardians live, which appears quite nice. Of course, they need to pay for food, which I consider more of a habit. Since they are basically dead, why would they need to eat? So I tried to take this Guardian, who is used to fighting at at moments notice and shove them into a boring life style.


	3. Chapter Three

Axel huffed, sitting on the edge of a building. Jhin was in the lap. Due to his thoughtful humming, Axel has a feeling that her Ghost was hacking another Government. Wouldn't be the first time.

Despite being in one of the most worst neighbourhood, no crime was happening. Just her luck. Axel went over her mental notes.

Do not use guns, as criminals are not immortal Guardians. Use non-lethal weapons. Create enough sightings to be known as a Guardian to the people.

"Hey there, pretty girl." 

Axel turned her attention towards the voice, seeing a group of men cornering a very young woman. They advanced upon her, grins large as their eyes raked over her figure. The young woman, who didn't look over the age of 16, gulped in fear as her eyes darted to the exit being blocked by the men.

_'Finally, some action!'_ Jhin cheered, disappearing in a flash of light. Axel stretched, grinning as she jumped down, landing light on her feet. The men didn't notice her, but the woman did.

Her eyes widen, but she was smart enough to ignore Axel, not giving her away.

"Alright, this is how it's going to go; Let the woman go, or i'll knock you all out." Axel warned, standing proud. Her cape blew in the wind. Axel ignored Jhin's coo of 'You look badass' to focus on the gang.

"Or what, freak? You gonna go runnin' to the cops?" The leader of the 'gang' asked, throwing his head back to bark out an ugly smoker laugh. "I think not. Get outta here before I stick my boys on you."

Axel sighed, widening her stance. She did warn them. She reached for her back, tightly gripping her compressed staff. Axel pushed her Light into her staff, extending it with a near silent hiss.

The art of being an Arcstrider was the rush of jolts, caused by her Light. The sparks, which usually would be a bright blue (high enough to turn living tissue into ash) were now a dull white.

Axel let the Travelers energy flow through her entire being, lighting sparking off her body as she tensed her muscles, preparing to fight.

"Daww, look at the pretty light show." One man commented, his scarred face ugly in the sharp light. "It won't stop us from getting what we want." He continued, glaring at Axel.

From behind her mask, Axel narrowed her eyes at them.

Axel easily twirled her staff, running at the group. Clearly, the men didn't expect it. The Hunter easily danced between them, jumping and twirling while using her staff to hit the men in the back of their knees before finishing them off with a shocking punch. 

Jhin sighed in pain, hearing her inner dialogue.

Within seconds, all of them men were on the floor, groaning with pain or unconscious. Axel laughed roughly, leaning on her staff as it sparked wildly before the sparks faded.

Axel turned her attention towards the woman, who was watching Axel carefully. "Who are you?" She asked, her eyes dancing between the men and Axel.

Axel shrugged, using her Hunter jump to reach the rooftop she was sitting a top of just minutes before, saying "I'm just a Guardian." before running out of sight.

Jhin appeared over her shoulder. "You are such a show off." He whined, shell twirling.

Axel laughed. "I've always been a show off. Remember when I first became a Guardian? I couldn't control any areas of my Light, so I was shooting Arc, Solar and Void everywhere? My, Cayde was miffed."

"I think you mean impressed. He practically crawled to Zavala in order to personally train you. And I've know Cayde for years, and he never begs!" Jhin burst into laughter. 

Axel smiled, happy that despite their circumstance, Jhin was happy. Her mind went back onto a memory of her Fireteam;

**Axel grunted, landing on her back roughly. The Fallen rasied its staff, ready to kill her. Her eyes widen, bringing her arms up to shield her face.**

**Suddenly, Omri shoulder barged the Fallen, the Fallen shrieking in pain as the Titan's barge had been chared with Arc Light. He chuckled, offering his hand to the Hunter. "Be on your guard, young Hunter."**

**"You may have potential, but you need to have practice in order to use your abilities to the fullest of their capacity." The Warlock, Azula, piped up as Omri helped Axel to stand.**

**"Thanks. You guys do know that I'm only a week old, right?" Axel commented as all three of them take shelter from the full barrier Omri placed down. Ignoring the knowing glances from the Titan and Warlock, Axel breathed and concentrated on her Light, of how it twisted and pulled.**

**She suddenly flipped, willing her Void to take shape into twin curved daggers. Axel dashed out, slaying any Fallen that stood in her way. She slashed and dashed.**

**Her Fireteam were in awe. It was true. Despite being only a Guardian for a week, Axel has surpassed any challenges Cayde-6 tried to place at her feet.**

**"She's good." Azula commented, leaning around the barrier to provide cover fire. Omir hum'd in agreement, watching as the little Hunter danced and twirled. It reminded him of another memory, one that was hazy but filled with laughter.**

**"I have a feeling she'll become a skilled Guardian. One that will change the world." Omir softly added, watching as Axel finished. The Hunter was panting, unused to using her Void energy for so long.**

**Axel smiled, turning to her Fireteam and opening her mouth to say-**

A scream tore through the air, catching both Immortals' attention and pulling Axel from her memory. The Hunter was off, jumping between buildings with ease, flipping and doing seemingly impossible acrobatics.

Axel looked down, seeing the same group of men from earlier. This time, their victim was a boy, who appeared to be homeless. Rolling her eyes, Axel simply stepped off the roof.

This time, she made sure her landing was loud enough to draw attention. She was rising from her crouch when one of the men recognised her. "Shit! Shit! Boss, it's that lightning chick from before!"

'Boss' turned towards her, his face still as ugly as ever, complete with a large darkening bruise. "You again! Why can't you take the hint, freak, and leave us alone." He growled, trying to sound menacing. Axel snorted.

"I will until you have learned your lesson; Leave people alone." Axel growled back, starting to circle the men. She decided to forgo Arc, Solar and Void. She wanted them to learn their lesson.

She put her hands together, pouring Light into them. Her fists crackled, sparking with energy. The fight was on.

One man jumped at her, shouting loudly. As if it would scare her off.

Axel blocked his punch with her arm before punching him in the belly, followed by an upper cut. The burly man went flying to the floor, unconscious before he even hit the floor.

"Get the bitch!" The Boss screamed, spit flying from his mouth as his grip on the wide eyed teen tightened. "Listen here, you little shit, you better have the money. Or else!"

The teen nodded. Boss grinned, letting him go. He turned his attention back to the freak, only to see her wrap her body around Jim, shocking his body as she went flying, landing on her feet with ease as Jim fell to the floor.

Seeing the freak stare at him, even behind a strange mask, was too much for Boss. He ran for it, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. 

"Oh no you don't." Axel muttered, throwing a smoke grenade after him. The smoke grenade was actually just a small disk, which released smoke heavy enough to make anyone's eyes water and choke.

Boss chocked, falling onto the floor as his vision became blurry. He groaned, feeling himself be dragged back and thrown onto a pile of warm bodies.

Axel smiled, putting her hands on her hips. That will teach them a lesson, for now at least. She turned to the boy, kneeling down to his level.

"You saved me. Why? Money?" The boy asked, suspicion in his eyes.

Axel shook her head, softly saying "No." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Just stay safe."

She was then swiftly on her feet, double jumping to once again reach the roof. "See you later kid!" She said, cape the last thing he saw.

The boy stared up, wonder in his eyes. She was his Guardian Angel. And one that can throw a mean right, left and centre hook! Awesome.

A pair of goggled eyes watched the woman leave. Spider-Man smiled wildly behind his loose mask as he clung to the side of the building, hiding in its shadow. Awesome! He's can't wait to tell Ned!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, I hope I got the action scenes tight. I have the whole story planned out, so I'll try to update as soon as I am able to. Just warning you, in case I don't update as regularly as I am right now.


	4. Chapter 4

"This doesn't make any sense!" Tony was close to his breaking point as he re-watched the footage his suit managed to get of the strange woman.

He sighed heavily, running a hand through his thick hair. Whoever this woman was, she was going to be a problem. And the council was breathing down his neck about the Sokovia Accords, which Tony was dreading.

"Boss, you have watched the footage for nearly two hours. I suggest you take a break." FRIDAY commented.

"First this Spider-Man person, now this?" Tony grumbled to himself. He rubbed his entire face, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Staying awake for 32 hours could do that to a person. Tony hasn't slept at all, wanting to figure out how the woman came back from the dead.

Grumbling, Tony decided to be an Adult (or else Pepper would kill him herself) and made his way to the elevator, wanting to have something to eat before he goes to bed. At 2p.m.

He stepped inside, blinking himself awake.

The doors opened with a ping, revealing the Towers kitchen and living room. He passed Steve, who was reading from a newspaper.

"Have a late night?" Steve asked, looking at Tony from just over the newspaper.

"You have no idea. There's a woman, who is apparently immortal, running about." Tony mumbled, opening the cupboard and taking out a bowl.

"What? How did you come to that conclusion?" Steve asked, setting the newspaper on the table. He was now watching Tony as he carefully poured Flakes into his bowl. 

"Oh I don't know. Maybe because she snapped her god damn neck and yet, she was all nice and fine seconds later?" The sarcasm rolled easily off his tongue as Tony poured milk into his bowl.

Steve frowned, crossing his bulky arms. "Will she be a threat?" 

Tony shrugged, eating his cold Flakes. "Dunno. She hasn't popped up on the Avenger's radar yet."

"Do you know anything about this woman?" Steve leaned forward, eager to hear more information about this woman.

"Only that she came out of a portal from who knows where," Tony shrugged. "Apparently her gear can disappear and reappear at will? She shot at this strange robot before throwing its corpse through the poertal. Ask FRIDAY for more details."

Tony placed his bowl into the sink, stumbling his way back to the elevator to enter his penthouse. Steve narrowed his eyes at Tony's retreating back.

"What's with the long face, Cap?" Clint asked as he and Natasha entered the room. Clint was visiting Natasha, seeing as how he is now retired from the Superhero business.

Steve smiled slightly at the sight of his two friends.

"Tony had an encounter with a woman," Steve began.

"Was it an Ex? Tell me she slapped him." Clint asked, grin on his face.

"-and she is apparently not from this....universe? Is that right, FRIDAY?" Steve asked the A.I.

"From what Boss has managed to find, this woman is some sort of an immortal being, as seen by this video;" A holo-screen appeared, showing the woman get thrown back and snap her neck.

Natasha frowned. "Her nervous system would have been instantly shattered, along with her vertebrae. See the angle? It was broken, most of it paralysing and killing her by cutting the central nervous system." She pointed out, pausing the video.

The video began to play, the light taking over the screen and room, forcing them all to close their eyes. When the light faded, the woman was seen running away, her tattered cape blowing behind her. "Zombie?" guessed Clint, half joking.

Natasha rolled her eyes, hitting Clint in the arm, ignoring his whining.

"Wondering what she's doing now?" Natasha asked, standing besides Steve. Steve hum'd in agreement, glaring out the window into the city view.

He'll get to the bottom of this, he's sure.

ELSEWHERE

"-and that was when I managed to get Cayde stuck in the toilet." Axel boasted. Gone was her armour, instead replaced with soft cotton clothes. She was wearing loose 'cargo pants' (Jhin ordered more clothes for her, to her amazement) and a too large shirt with an 'S', but keeping her Hunter boots on.

Small faces grinned back at her. Axel could feel Jhin rolling his optic at her. The homeless children all cheered, eating the snacks Axel and Jhin got them.

"Guardian, when can I be all big and strong like you? I want a Jhin!" A girl asked, peering with big eyes at Axel and Jhin. Axel and Jhin both turned to stare at each other, eyes wide.

"Well, you see," Axel laughed nervously. "Jhin will tell you how!" She said, standing with a quick motion. The children and Ghost watched as she ran out the room, throwing a "I'm getting snacks!" over her shoulder.

Jhin slowly turned to the eager children, who were all watching the Ghost with wide eyes. "Well, you see, I'm a Ghost. I come from The Traveler-"

"Is The Traveler your mom?" A boy whined.

"...Not exactly. You see, I'm actually a small piece of Light from The Traveler-"

When Axel returned, she was suprised to see all the children engrossed Jhin's history lesson. She smiled. Axel placed the snacks down carefully. While her new 'House' was an old warehouse that Jhin bought, her Little Light had hired builders to fix the place up and place in new furniture.

As is the Guardian way, Axel offered her home to the children. She was appalled once she learned that many couldn't go to school or have a home to go back to. And to think, it was all thanks to Jason. (He was the boy Axel had saved a few days earlier.)

Now, Axel and Jhin want the children to have a home. So, they are building them one.

Axel smiled, choosing to sit with the children. She stealthily opened a bag of 'Doritos' and began to eat, soon also getting engrossed with the story her Ghost was telling. 

Jhin just had that type of voice, Axel thought.

 


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A superhero tries to kill Axel....It doesn't go so well. And we see a familiar face!

This is going to hurt." Axel said flatly, the bomb going off. The explosion shattered the building. She looked up, sighing as she saw the rubble now rapidly falling towards her. Axel was then crushed to death, along with all the evidence.

  
_**Axel giggled, watching Cayde dance. Cayde had sneaked away from his Vanguard position to be with Axel, Omir and Azula. Cayde was trying to teach Axel the 'city dance', but was making his moves too short or too long to in order make Axel laugh.** _

_**Axel, despite being a Guardian for a month, was only 18 when she died. Axel didn't mind, but the rest of the Guardians would rather try to baby her. Axel proved them wrong, making Omir and Azula smirk behind their masks.** _

_**"Cayde, you're doing it all wrong!" Axel laughed as Cayde 'tripped' on his spin.** _

_**Omir and Azula watched from the sidelines, Azula smirking into her cup of red whine. The Warlock enjoyed the taste of the wine, despite Omir hating it with a passion. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen Cayde-6 this happy before." Azula commented.** _

  
_**Omir hummed in agreement, crossing his arms over his chest. "It seems that Cayde has adopted oue little Hunter."** _

_**"I wouldn't say that to his face, but Cayde has always been a natural with kids. " Omir agreed. "He must have been a family man before....his death."** _

_**Despite 99.9% of Guardians having died in their previous lives, most were open with the fact that they have died. It was still a sore spot for a few, especially for Exos.** _

_**"By the Traveller!" Lord Shaxx's voice calls out, drawing the small groups's attention. The Crucible Titan walked forward, putting his hands on his hips. "That's not the way to do it. This is how you do it."** _

  
_**Shaxx then proceeded to flawlessly do the 'City Dance' Cayde was trying to teach Axel. Cayde crossed his arms, pouting. He opened his mouth, flashing brightly-** _

Axel gasped, coming back to life. Jhin was hovering above her like an angel. A very, very angry angel. "What where you thinking?!" He demanded, shell twirling in controlled anger.

"Jhin, I destroyed the drug lord's den! They're done for," Axel argued, moving to her feet. She glared back at her Ghost from behind her helmet. "Besides, they were using some of our kids as messangers. I will not allow any one of them get hurt."

  
Jhin sighed, already calming down. Axel, despite being so young, always wanted the best of people. Besides, he grudgingly admitted, he liked the kids. 

Thanks to their money, Jhin had managed to hire caretakers for the children. Many were abused prostitutes. Despite not understanding sexuality, Jhin understands consent. The women, once they found out that their boss was actually a 'robot', simply shrugged.

A gunshot went off. Axel gasped, glancing down while Jhin immediately disappears. Axel stared down at her stomach, where part of her torso was unprotected. The bullet wound was quickly stitched together with Light while the bullet was transmitted outside of her body, landing on the ground silently as Axel fell, taking on the 'injured person' act.  
Axel crouched, hiding behind a slab of concrete. "Jhin, do you know where the shot came from?" She asked. She looked around, seeing nothing but the darkness of the night. It must have been a sniper then.

  
'Your're right, it was a sniper shot. Scanning for heat signatures.' Jhin replied, widening his 360 degree radar. Jhin finally detected a sniper on one of the neighbouring buildings roof. 'Found them! They are to your left, on the roof of that red building.'

"Thanks, Little Light." Axel said, ignoring Jhin's 'I'm not that little!'. "Do we even have a sniper rifle on us right now?"

Jhin quickly searched their subspace, finding multiple weapons such as hand cannons, shot guns and rocket launchers. He made a sound of victory, a sniper rifle landing in Axel's waiting hands.

Axel breathed, calming herself. She then quickly took her position, easily spotting the sniper through her scope. The sniper was packing away their gun. 'If you where human, you would have bled to death in minutes.' Jhin told her softly as her finger gently squeezed the trigger, not yet firing.

Axel observed the sniper through her scope. The sniper appeared female, with short red locks. Her outfit was strange. And familiar. Axel realised with a jolt that it was the famed hero 'Black Widow'. But why would a superhero have the need to kill a Guardian?

  
Axel pulled back, furrowing her brows as she placed the sniper rifle back into her subspace. She sat on the ground, dazed. A hero wanted to kill her? But, she helps people. She has been on the news, a symbol of hope for the poor and helpless.

As a Guardian, Axel had the duty of protecting the people. Was she even worthy of being a Guardian? Axel hugged her legs to her chest, placing her head in-between her kegs.

Underneath her helmet, a single tear fell.

ELSEWHERE

  
Cayde-6 awoke to life with a jump. He twitched, his core memory processor sluggishly coming online. He patted himself down, assuring himself that he was alive, despite his last memory was Uldren shooting him dead with his own weapon.

Who even does that?!

His optics blinked, looking around. He was surrounded by rubbish of all kinds. His optics landed on his Ghost. Despite seeing her die, Sundance must have survived somehow. (Cayde wasn't going to ask how, knowing he'll somehow jinx himself and Sundance.)

He quickly picked her up, cradling her in his palms.

"Don't worry, i'll make sure that you'll be flying around me soon enough." He said, making her single blue optics stare at him. "After all, how hard could it be? You do this all the time."

  
He grinned, making her weakly chuckle. She disappeared in a flash, only to re-appear at the back of his mind. It was a comfort. He held her close, her death startling him.

Cayde looked around, relising just how old everything was. It pre-dated the golden age. It was that old.

"Hmm. Better look around." He said aloud to himself, standing. His joints creeked before he lossend them, allowing them to rotate silently.

He walked away from the Junkyard, frowning. Well, frowning as much as an Exo could. He made a happy noise when he spotted people walking about. Time to find what low tech planet he was on!

He walked up to a woman. "Uh, Excuse me ma'am?" He asked, making the woman turn around. His optics took in the womans face. She was human. What was a human doing on a planet like this?

She screamed, getting a look at his face and body. "Robot monster!" She shrieked, drawing attention to herself and Cayde.

"Well, that's highly offensive-" Cayde started before the woman waked him with her handbag, running away shrieking like the cabal were on her trail. Cayde frowned and rubbed his hallow cheek, feeling a slight sting in his sensitive plates.

He glanced around, seeing other humans stare at him with fear. Just where was he?!

Cayde quickly learned, after roaming the streets, that was not on his earth. Sure, it looked the same (if a bit old) but Earth was still Earth. 'Police' had tried to....arrest him?

Maybe the Police were old Guardians, before they became Guardians. Cayde can't really remember.

Cayde really should have read that book on old Earth history when Ikora gave it to him.

After two hours, a flying Titan came down form the sky. In typical Titan fashion, he made a dramatic entrance. However, Sundance urged him to look closer. So Cayde did. The Titan was not, in fact, a Titan, despite looking like a Titan.

Cayde then opened his big mouth. "Uh, hi? I'm Cayde-6, the Hunter Vanguard. I'm sure you've heard of me." Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course this person hasn't heard of him! He's on another Earth or something.

"....Hi? I'm Iron Man. You'll need to come with me, Mr.Robot." The person said, voice sounding robotic. 

Cayde frowned, staring at the equally confused 'Iron Man'. "Robot!? I'm not a robot!" Cayde-6 said, waving his arms about. "Seriously, I haven't had to deal with this attitude since the 2200's!"

That caught Iron Man's attention. "The 2200's?" He asked, making the Hunter Vanguard huff.

"Yes, the 2200's, where Exo's were thought of robots despite not being robots?" Cayde-6, the Exo, exclaimed. "By the Traveler, what planet am I on?"

"Earth." Iron Man said, intrigued as he watched the Exo's face plates moved. He wonders how it ties to its emotions. Did it have to think it, or was there something else?

"Okay, we are 100% on Earth, where everything here is so old, older than me." The Exo said, looking around and frowning before it hummed in its throat, mouth plates glowing multiple shades of orange.

"What is the date?" The Exo, Cayde, asked.

"2015." Iron Man answered, frowning under his mask. The Exo looked distressed.

Suddenly, a small robot blinked into existence. Cayde panicked, grabbing the robot and shielding it from view. "What are you doing?! Remember last time you stayed out? You were shot!"

"Cayde, stop panicking. I scanned the area. We are unlikely to die, but," A weak feminine voice said from behind Cayde's palm, sounding brittle. "I don't feel the Traveler."

Cayde gasped, mouth plates falling open. "But it's impossible, Sundance. Last thing I remember is Uldren shooting me dead with my Ace of Spades." Cayde chuckled darkly. "Funny sense of humour, he has."

"Your name is Cayde and you died?" Iron Man asked, causing Cayde to look at him. "You need to come with me. You're not safe out here."

Cayde laughed. "I've survived many things, Iron Man. Besides, nothing on Earth can kill me. I'm made of tough metal."

Iron Man stared at Cayde. Cayde somehow smirked, used two fingers to mock salute Iron Man before he channelled his Light, manipulating it in the way only a Hunter could.

He vanished from sight, stepping into a empty ally.

Time for some exploration! And maybe some spicy Ramon, while he's at it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always thought that Black Widows, including Natasha Romanov, are very smart and skilled. So here she is, testing out her theory. Is this person immortal?  
> Also, I tried to humanise the Guardians. Are they immortal? Yes. Do they make stupid mistakes? Of course! Since Crimson Days, and now Season of the Drifter, I've felt that the Guardians are just normal people (who can also kill gods in their spare time).  
> Also, I'm still salty over Cayde-6's death.


	6. Chapter Six

Axel stood, hearing the sirens. The Police were here. With one last glance at the rubble that was once a warehouse filled with illegal drugs, Axel jumped onto the roof, slowly making her way back to her home.

Home, she mused, jumping onto another rooftop. Home was filled with immortal Guardians, with her Fireteam and Vanguard. Home was Omir, Azula and Cayde-6. 

Despite having learned many things on her own, the children usually help with her social skills. Apparently knowing what 'memes' are is very important to humans in this time. Somehow. At least it made the little ones smile.

Axel made it to her house, if it could be even called that. Her armour disappeared in a flash, revealing her under armour shirt and cargo pants. Using her Hunter training, she silently slipped into her room and locked the door behind her.

The house was silent, save a few workers walking about, preparing to feed all the children before they all flock to a school. Axel remembers the tiredness of school, despite not remembering going to school herself. Axel fell face first onto her bed, groaning. Jhin appeared over her shoulder, hovering in worry.

"Axel, you are an amazing Guardian!" Jhin reassured her, resting on her wild nest that is her hair. "I've searched long and hard for you. You are perfect in every way."

"I bet you say that too all the newly resurrected girls who were previously dead," Came the muffled reply.

Jhin narrowed his optic. Fine. If Axel wasn't going to listen to his 'smooth talking', then he'll beat sense into her. (Not literally, as he has no arms of legs to be able to 'beat' her with.)

"You know, you've slacked on your training," He said, as if it didn't bother him. "It would be a shame if you stopped training-"

Axel jumped up, narrowing her eyes into a glare. "Fine." She gritted between clenched teeth. "Let's train."

-

Axel breathed evenly, using her core stomach muscles to crunch. She was upside down, hanging off the ceiling by a bar. She enjoyed the burn of using her core, of using her muscles to test her limits. After she did her 500th crunch, she slipped to the floor.

Axel knew that in her previous life, she was active. It helped her keep fit, and Axel grew to love the feeling of using her muscles, feeling them ache with the satisfaction she was improving physically.

She began to stretch, knowing her body well enough to know her limit. Despite technically not required to work out, as Jhin keeps her in peak physical form, Axel enjoys the burn of a good workout. It also helps her remind herself that she was alive.

Many Guardians also use training as a coping method. Axel knew of a titan called Mary. While her name was sweet, Mary had a mouth like a sailor while her bite was vicious. Mary would force many Guardians to train, if only until it becomes a habit.

"Alright," Axel said, finishing off her last stretch. Getting into a stance, with feet spread and knees bent, Axel focused on producing Arc Light. Breathing smoothly, Axel moved her body into bending techniques.

Sparks of electricity came to life around her. Axel focused on bringing the Arc energy together. Sweat trickled down the curve of her back as she continued to guide her Light. 

Technically, as a Hunter, Axel was currently using her Light as a Warlock. Jhin had commented that she had the potential to wield other classes, such as Warlock or Titan. And while it was not easy, Axel was determined to become the first Guardian to tame another class. (Even if many Warlocks scoffed at her back.)

"Axel, you can relax now." Jhin said to her, watching her process. "You've been going at it for half an hour."

Axel blinked to awareness, the Arc energy fading. She could feel her own sweat drip down her face, having stained her training shirt.

As a Hunter, using Arc was a dance. It was ever changing, being channelled into a bow-staff. However, using the Warlock Arc style, it was very....different. While Hunters use swift, controlled movements, Warlocks let it flow freely, becoming the storm to produce the Arc.

"Did I improve?" She asked, looking at her Ghost.

Jhin nodded, his movements happy. "You have! You are still no where near the power level as a Warlock, but you have improved by 0.9%!" He cheerily informed her.

Axel smiled, looking at her sweaty palms. "Jhin, is there any satellites you could hack? I need to know about these so called 'Avengers'."

Jhin crackled insanely. If Axel was anyone else, she would be worried.

AVENGERS TOWER

Tony was going insane. At least the others believed him. Security cameras told him that the woman had went into an exchange store, traded in something, before going to the mall and buying normal clothes. After that, she drops off the radar.

Tony had studied her face, which FRIDAY had re-created using the limited footage, while watching everything on a loop. Of course, searching for facial recognition proved to be a waste of time. The only match to the woman's face was another woman named Lila Summers, a 55 year old new grandmother.

Unless the woman had found the fountain of youth, became a skilled shooter and had weird armour, Tony was sure that Lila Summers was not 'The Guardian'.

To relax, Tony decided to continue building his Mark 46 suit. With Black Sabbath's 'IRON MAN' blaring out at full volume, the billionaire had finally gotten into the haze of creating new suits and creating new ideas to help The Avengers.

The volume of the music suddenly paused. Tony grumbled, looking up, mouth open to ask his A.I. why she paused the music. FRIDAY beat him too it.

"Boss, I'm currently detecting a foreign presence in my database." FRIDAY spoke, making Tony freeze.

"Well, destroy them already. Show them what happens when they try to hack into Tony freaking Stark's database." Tony grinned, waiting for FRIDAY to send barbs back at him.

"Boss, I am unable to destroy or stop them." Tony's blood went cold. "What would you like me to do?"

Tony blinked, blood rushing as he stood. "Let me see what they are doing."

Instantly, a holo-map sprung to life before Tony. His brown eyes widen. Whoever they where, they were collecting all of his data on The Avengers, Shield and Hydra while battling off his firewalls at the same. Impressive, if they weren't currently hacking him.

His eyes narrow on the entity. However, as soon as it appeared, it left. "FRIDAY, can you track them?" Tony asked, typing commands as he tried to catch up with them. Lines of code passed, but no sign of the hacker.

"Sorry Boss, but they have managed to get past me. Again." FRIDAY sounded frustrated and angry. 

The Irish A.I. was frustrated. This problem needed to be solved immediately.

Tony sighed, leaning back into his chair. He dragged his hand down his face. Great. 

ELSEWHERE

"-and.....done!" Jhin said, shell twirling. Axel smiled at her Little Light.

"Was it hard?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Apparently it's unreachable."

Jhin laughed. "It was as easy as butter!" He said, ignoring his partners mutter of 'That's not the saying'. "I think Tony Stark is annoyed that someone slipped past his 'unteachable' firewall."

Axel smiled, holo-screens appearing around her in a 270 degree. It contained all the information she needed. Now, where to start?

"At the beginning," Jhin said as the image of the Hero called 'Captain America' came forward. Axel smirked, bumping her fist gently against her Ghosts shell. Time to get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I am finally updating. Most of my exams are done, so I have more free time to continue writing. In fact, most of the chapters from 6-8 are finished, I just haven't uploaded them. I might write some while I have a bad case of insomnia.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Parker, Aka Spider-Man, meets The Guardian for the first time. Peter tries to keep his fan-boying to himself.

Axel grinned behind her mask, easily darting out the way of the would be robber and her friends. The woman in the mask growled, swinging her bat as her partners tried to flank the Guardian.

Having accidentally claimed a small territory somehow, nicknamed 'Guardian Land' by the media, all know about Axel and what she does. Of course, the Hunter tries to avoid the media, but they have proven to be difficult to lose (like hounds with a fresh scent, or like Cabal war hounds).

According to the media, 'The Guardian' is a fearsome warrior who has trained for twenty years to become a Guardian. Her 'abilities' are the result of being struck by lighting. (Jhin fell out of the air laughing, to her bemusement.) They had no idea how powerful she was.

The Avengers have not came to 'recruit' her, yet. Jhin told her of all this 'Accords' business. Axel was hopeless when it came to politics, mostly due that she has no real interest in the field. Jhin, being the ever so helpful Ghost, keeps up to date with the politics. Axel knew that Jhin does it for the gossip. 

Back in The Tower, Jhin was a favourite among the Ghosts. He had gossip on nearly everyone, to everyone's surprise.

Axel grunted, feeling someone heavy jump onto her back. She quickly spread her legs, bracing her weight. She reached behind her, only for the attacker to put her in a tight choke hold. Axel smirked, feeling herself grow amused. She was known to be strong, and they think she can't escape from a simple chock hold?

The leader, the woman, chuckled, the sound distorted due to her mask. While Axel was still new to have 'enemies', she was still surprised that they all seemed to monologue as soon as it appeared she was beaten.

Despite what Jhin says, Axel was tired of cliches.

"Look what we have here, boys. 'The Guardian'." She mocked, reaching into her jacket idly. "The one who stops 'villains' like us."

"To be fair, you are robbing the bank." Axel told the woman in a flat voice, voice turning weak as the arm tightened around her neck. 

"Robbing? We're not robbing!" The woman exclaimed, bringing out a pocket knife. Axel sighed, raising an unimpressed eyebrow. This is how its going to go? She relaxed, letting her body go limp.

"If you're going to stab me, go ahead." Axel drawled, uncaring.

The masked leader bristled, stomping forward. She thrust the sharp edge of the knife forward. However, instead of slicing into Axel's body, the knife shattered once it make contact with Axel's thin armour. 

"Ow." Axel said, unhelpful as she smirked underneath her helmet. "I forgot to mention: I have knife proof armour."

A cough drew everyone's attention to the door. A short figure with a slim build, wearing...pyjamas(?) leaned awkwardly against the door, shifting with the unease of having everyone's attention.

"Hey guys! Uh, I'm here to help The Guardian."

Dear god, the stranger sounded as if they were five. Axel used the surprise of the newcomer to her advantage. Axel grabbed the mans arm, easily flipping him over her shoulder. That set everyone off.

The kid, Axel dubbed thee, shot out thin strands of white from their wrist, webbing most thugs arms or legs to the floor, or the nearest surface available. Axel snorted when two men were stuck together, both unhappy at being unable to move, with one mans hand on the others face.

Axel ran at the masked woman, easily overpowering the woman. The leader of the small gang grunted, falling to the floor, where the kid webbed her to the floor. Axel and Jhin grew amused, having heard all the small comments the kid had been shooting off while fighting.

He reminds of her Cayde. If Cayde was a tiny person, with a high pitched voice that sometimes cracked and wearing red and blue clothes.

Seeing all the thugs webbed to the floor, Axel turned to the kid. "Follow me." She said, slipping out of the Bank with the grace of a natural born Hunter. The kid followed her, almost on her heels with how closely he was following her.

Double jumping, Axel reached the roof. The kid crawled up the building, which Jhin found interesting. Jhin, relax. I'll need to ease him in before introducing you to him Axel thought, turning as the kid stood.

Helmet flickering away in a flash of light, Axel smirked at the kid. While his too large goggles and loose mask hid his expression, she would bet glimmer on his expression. She held out a gloved hand.

"Name's Axel. Or The Guardian." Axel introducing herself. The kid shook it briefly, letting go quickly, looking down at his hand in awe.

Jhin suddenly appeared in a flash, zooming until he was right in-front of the kid's face. The kid screamed, jumping back. "I need to know how you created that webbing!" Jhin, as always, introducing himself with grace.

"Uh, nice to meet you? Wait, are you a robot?" The kid chirped, leaning forward to get a better look at Jhin. Axel rolled her eyes as Jhin blinked innocently at the kid. "Nice to meet you! My name is Spider-Man!"

"My name is Jhin, and I'm a Ghost!" Jhin said, excitement dripping into his voice. Axel coughed, bringing attention back to the Hunter. "Oh, and that's my Guardian, Axel." 

Axel ignored his more dryer tone, Jhin flying over until her was over her shoulder. Axel looked over the newly named Spider-Man. She also noticed his theme, if she dared to call it that.

You'd dare call it that, Jhin spoke into her mind.

Spider-Man's theme was, well, a spider and was red and blue. It was very....bright and friendly, if that was what Spider-Man was going for. 

"It is nice to meet you, Spider-Man! But, aren't you suppose to be in Queens?" Jhin asked, pulling video clips up. Axel watched with interest as Spider-Man caught a speeding car with his bare hands. 

"I must say, you are very strong," Axel commented, seeing Spider-Man in a new Light and resisting the urge to adopt him. "When did you start this career?"

"Ugh...I would say a few months ago? I'm trying to be a Neighbourhood Friendly Spider-Man, you know?" Spider-Man said, putting a hand to his chin as he thought.

Axel smirked, pulling a piece of paper from one of her many pouches. She wrote the number to her comm.link, which (according to Jhin) acted like a phone number. She handed the piece to Spider-Man, who stared down at the piece of paper in his gloved hands.

"Well, I need to go. If you ever need training, or just want to talk, I'm available." She said, eyes twinkling. "Traveler knows that you and Jhin would get on like a house on fire."

"Thanks? You know, I'd really like how you help people of all ages and even have a house for children-aaaaand she's gone." Spider-Man said, looking at the empty space The Guardian used to stand, her Ghost disappearing in a flash of Light.

Peter squealed, finally fan-boying once The Guardian left. He just helped, and met, The Guardian! (Or would it be Axel, as that is her name?) Peter eagerly made his way back home to his and May's apartment, easily slipping into his bedroom and closing the window with his foot.

Peter fell onto his bed, a huge grin on his face. Spider-Man and The Guardian, teaming up! What an idea! He placed the piece of paper on his desk, pulling off his mask and hoodie with practised ease.

"PETER! I'm leaving for work!" Aunt May shouted, making her way to the door.

"Alright Aunt May!" Peter responded, a smile in his voice.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After many, many, many, many decades, Cayde is finally reunited with Axel. Even if he was exaggerating, at least he found a new human friend.

  
Cayde-6 hummed, turning around to face the now hovering Sundance. Cayde, with a weak Sundance instructing him, had managed to strengthen his bond with the Ghost. With more of his Light, Sundance has became more like her usual self, save for not being able to do much.

Having listened to reports of The Guardian, Cayde was naturally curious. Who wouldn't? 'The Guardian' sounds like one of his Nightstalkers, if Cayde was reading their behaviour right. Even so, the Nightstalker was using Arc.  


Stealthy behaviour, swift action while creating a literal smokescreen? Sounds like a Nightstalker. A skilled Nightstalker, who knows how to cover their tracks. But, they have gotten sloppy.  


Cayde followed the trail, slightly disappointed.  


His Hunters know to never leave a trail, weather or not it was a life or death situation. But, Cayde will allow it to slip. After all, why would a Hunter worry about being tracked like a Hunter, in a world where the technology was primitive?  


Cayde and Sundance shared a round of giggles, with Sundance searching The Internet (or The World Wide Web, WWW for short) for any traces of Ghost activity. They both stumbled upon 'Me-mes', and Sundance was instantly hooked.  


Sundance suddenly gasps, Cayde immediately shielding her shell with his hands. She slapped it away, tutting. "Cayde, you big mother hen, stop! I know who The Guardian is!"  


Cayde raised a metallic eyebrow at her. "It's Jhin! Axel's Ghost! Axel is alive!" She burst, her optic bright as she stared up at the Hunter Vanguard.  


Cayde's mouth plate turned slack, allowing Cayde to have a 'jaw dropping moment'. The image was not very flattering, as it gave Sundance a view at how low his jaw could go, exposing the pathway down his throat. Sometimes, Exos could look very un-human.  


His twin bright optics stared at Sundances' single one. "A-Are you serious?" He finally asked, voice hitching higher in pitch.  


"Cayde, why would I joke about that?" His Ghost's voice was soft. "She's been gone for five years. Omir and Azula were heartbroken."  


Cayde remembers Omir and Azula. Together, the Hunter, Warlock and Titan were the best Fireteam that held the title for centuries. But when Axel mysteriously disappeared one normal patrol evening, the remaining fireteam members became distraught.  


Omir became more aggressive, often drinking his sorrows away. More than once, his Ghost revived him after the Titan had died of liver poisoning. Azula often stayed in the library, where she studied and studied. Not even Ikora could bring Azula away from her studies.  


With the Titan and Warlock hiding themselves away, many theories spread. Some even pointed the finger at the Fireteam, telling others it was to hide how Azula's 'twisted experiments' or Omir's 'physical abuse' towards Axel. The Vanguard swiftly de-bunked the rumours, but the damage was done. No one wanted to work with Omir and Azula, and that was fine by them.  


Cayde, despite being the Hunter Vanguard, often kept up to date with Omir and Azula. He always managed to get time to catch up with them (even if he happened to be in an 'important meeting', happily chatting away before Zavala scolds Cayde for not listening).  


"Axel's alive?" It was whispered like a prayer. Cayde smiled. His Hunter was alive!  


"What are we waiting for? Let's find Axel!" Sundance yelped, Cayde grabbing her and jumping to the roof, leaving behind the hidden alley.  


-  


Five hours. Five hours. Cayde groaned, sprawled on his back, the rooftop cold against his back plates. Five hours, and Cayde still hasn't found Axel. Cayde shut off his optics, imaging finally meeting Axel. In his mind, it went a little like this:  


Cayde sneaked into the building, as silent as a mouse. It was a small house, with only one bedroom. While it might be a problem, Cayde would be willing to take the bed. After all, he has died. Axel would roll her eyes, call him an old man, before sharpening her knives while sitting on the ground.  


They would watch some holovids, or a Tv, as Cayde has learned, and joke about big blue and how stupid humans in this time were. They would get smarter, Cayde knows.  


Cayde was snapped from his day dreaming when a small, blue and red figure came into view. This human was sooooo short! "Uh, hi?" They squeaked, voice too high for Cayde to figure out if they were male or female.  


He shot up, squealing. "Oh by the Travler, you are so cute!" Cayde had a weakness for cute things, sue him. It was why he had Colonel after all. The chicken knew how to pull his heart strings. (If he still had a heart.)  


"Uh, thank you, Mr.Robot sir?" The figure said, confusion heavy in their voice. "Are you lost? Do you need help finding someone? I know the area very well."   


Cayde grinned at the small human. "Names Cayde-6," he pointed at himself with his thumb. "I'm looking for a female? Around the same height as me, goes by Axel?"  


"Oh, I know her!"  


"Listen, its fine if you can't help me- wait, what?" Cayde asked, watching as they whipped out a flat device from...somewhere. Pressing the screen a few times, they began speaking into it.  


"Hey, Miss Axel? I've found someone who's looking for you? Their name is Cayde-6." They said as Cayde's world paused.  


This...adorable human knew Axel? Cayde thought about all the outcomes, knowing that if Axel gave out her comm.link number, this human was to be trusted. And impressed her, which was hard enough. Cayde had to give Axel his famous pair of pants (the hostler for the gun was _not_ modified, thank you very much) to get back into her good books.

Besides, the small human is so adorable.  


"Uh huh, yeah," they spoke into the device, a smile creeping into their voice. "'Kay, Miss Axel." With that, they pressed a button, ending the comm.link conversation. They turned to Cayde, idly rubbing the back of their head.  


"Oh, Um, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Spider-Man, the neighbourhood friendly hero." The boy, Cayde realised, brought a hand up to cup his chin, idly tapping it in thought. "I need to nail the second part of my intro."  


"Nice to meet you, Spider-boy." Cayde said, slipping into his charming self. Despite Ikora's claims, Cayde could sell honey to bees if he wanted to. He just....drooled charm and a sharp wit. Not to mention an even sharper talent for one liners that everyone just loved. Well, everyone except big blue and Ikora. Still, he knew Ikora secretly enjoyed his witty banter.  


"Cayde, I believe this child wants to be called Spider-Man." Axel's strong voice came from behind him. Cayde tensed, slowly turning his head to look at Axel.  
Helmet flickering away to reveal her grin, Axel was playing with her hunter knife, flicking it up and down with practised ease. She titled her head, eyes twinkling with mischief.  


"Miss me?" Grin sharp, Axel narrowed her eyes at Cayde, raising an eyebrow, waiting for his response.  


Cayde made a printer jamming noise in response.  



	9. Chapter Nine

Axel and Spider-Man shared a worried glance as Cayde fell to the floor. They both cringed as the sound of his body hitting the concrete roof echo'd into the inky black sky, swallowing the sound with glee.

  
"Is-Is he okay?" Spider-Man asked, looking down at Cayde. Behind his bulky goggles, Peter furrowed his brows in worry. Mr.Cayde seemed nice. Plus, Peter wanted to ask him all kinds of questions.

Still, he was concerned over Cayde for his reaction.

"Oh, Cayde does that when he can't process something immediately," Axel said, crouching next to Cayde, tilting her head as she squinted her eyes at Cayde. She looked up at Spider-Man with a tongue in cheek grin. "You'd think that he would do this when the Cabal's took over our City, slaughtered our Guardians and citizens, and started The Red War. But nope."

Spider-Man stared blankly, processing what she said. Axel had been in a war? From the late night calls he had started to recently have with Axel, she had revealed that for 'Guardians', there was three main subclasses.

Titan, for the physically strong. They helped rebuild The City, and were commanded by a man named Zavala. He was the Titan Vanguard.

Warlock, for those who thirst for knowledge. They, according to Axel, were basically mages and witches, after Peter told her that she was basically describing an RPG. Their Warlock Vanguard is Ikora Ray.

Lastly, there were Hunters. Swift as a bullet, and twice as deadly, they were their namesake; Hunters. Out of the three, they were the mostly deadly, as you never see them coming. Their Hunter Vanguard is Cayde-6.

"So, you two have fought in wars, and yet he can't handle meeting you again?" He asked, uncertainty in his voice.

Axel turned her gaze to Cayde, hiding her face from Peter. "Who knows the last time he saw me. Vex portals can be...confusing. Trust me," she said, eyes turning glassy. She blinked rapidly, as if that would chase away the unpleasant memory of the side effects.

Beneath her, Cayde groaned, optics flicking to life. "What, do I have something on my face? How's my hair?" He asked, gesturing to his head and worn hood. He sighed, laying sprawled on the ground. "The ground has accepted me as its kin. Hello, beautiful." 

Peter has seen weird stuff in his life, but this is taking the cake. The robot, Mr.Cayde-6, was...trying to chat up the roof? He was really going at it, rubbing his hand up and down the cement floor, as if he caressing it while whispering sweet nothings.

"Is he...okay? Does he normally flirt with a roof?" He asked, looking at Axel. She sighed, turning her face to look at him. Her face was pinched, giving him the information Peter suddenly wanted to forget.

"Sadly, it only happens after he has had a large enough shock to his system. I'm no mechanic, but it damages systems that deal with sight and memory. I'm pretty sure he thinks he is in a club, filled with hot women."

She groaned, rubbing her face while Jhin appeared in a flash of light. "Now I'm starting to wish I'm in that club, filled with hot men and women." She muttered into her palm.

"Axel, Cayde will be fine. His self repair will deal with this small issue in an hour. However, I'm pretty sure it's passed your curfew, Spider-Man," Jhin said, turning to face Spider-Man as Axel easily picked up a dazed Cayde.

Peter huffed, crossing his arms. While Axel, and by default Jhin, know his age, they don't know his identity. He is going to tell them, but needs the right moment. Peter is sure it will come soon. "Alright. I hope your friend will be okay."

"Oh, Cayde has been through worse!" Jhin reassured him.

Peter stared at the Ghost, before nodding and swinging away from Axel, Jhin and Cayde. He quickly faded from the Hunter and Ghosts' sight.

"Now, to bring Cayde home," Jhin turned to Cayde, who was being carried by a bemused Axel. She easily supported Cayde's surprisingly heavy weight. She mostly blames it on all the spicy ramen he inhales.

She began her journey, easily jumping between roofs. Due to having to carry Cayde, she could not do any fancy parkour moves, otherwise she would drop Cayde. She doubted that he would appreciate being dropped ten stories simply because she wanted to show off.

Double jumping, Hunter cape blowing in the wind, Axel brought herself and Cayde into a roll to reach the ground without any broken bones. Even if she does break her bones, Jhin would simply sigh his all knowing sigh and heal her right back up.

Sneaking into the large warehouse-turned-mansion, Axel used all of her skills to stay out of sight from anyone. If any of the children, or workers, saw Axel carrying a bulky person in the dark, they might become worried that she kidnapped someone.

Of course, they wouldn't judge her. Everyone in the home knew what Axel did, and promised to keep quiet in return for Axel protecting them from harm and Jhin helping the children and even the adults to get back on track with their lives.

After a few minutes, Axel was safety in her quarters, door and blinds shut. She breathed a sigh of relief. Gently placing Cayde on top of her bed, she stretched her numb shoulders, roating them to ease the numbness and to stop getting pins and needles.

Carrying nearly 300 pounds of solid, heavy metal had cut of her flow of blood into her torso and arms. Wiggling her fingers, Axel turned to Jhin, who was already happily chatting away with Sundancer.

"Jhin, alert me if Cayde awakens. I'm going to see the children," Axel said, armour peeling away in a wave of Light, revealing her plain clothes underneath. Jhin showed no outward reaction, only sending a wave of understanding across their bond.

She exited her room, only to freeze every muscle in her body when she comes face to face with Gabriel. The boy, who she rescued and inspired her to create her a room for the homeless children, grew into a smart teenager.

Gabriel was currently raising an eyebrow at her, arms crossed. Axel smiled nervously, shuffling in place. Gabriel, after having a now stable home life, filled out with strong muscle. No longer was he the skinny boy she once saved.

"Where have you been, Ax?" He asked, turning his body to allow Axel to move past. She did, and he walked with her.

"I've, uh, been busy with a friend." While it was not a lie, Axel wasn't going to tell Gabriel the whole truth. "He goes by Spider-Man?" She tried, aiming for his weakness for superheros.

It worked, thankfully. Despite being a Guardian, Axel is terrible at lying. She stutters and freezes up. Omir and Azula quickly learned this, and helped her improve by telling white lies.

Gabriel brightens upon hearing 'Spider-Man'. He reached into his jacket, and pulled out a large folder before shoving it into her hands. She fumbled, blinking down at the folder. How on earth did he carry this thing around?

Well, it was Gabriel. He always has been crafty with the hands he has been dealt with.

"This is everything I've found out about Spider-Man. On page 14, I highlighted many theories as to who he could be." Gabriel said as they both walked into the 'living room'.

The living room was large enough to fit a normal sized house in it. A large, well stocked kitchen was connected to the living room, filled with both healthy and unhealthy snacks.

In both living room and kitchen were plenty of normal humans. Many were children from the ages of eight to eight-teen. Amongst them were the adults. Many were women, with few men, looking after the children and helping them with school work.

Micheal and Samuel, twins, both worked for Jhin. Having been raised in a very large abusive house hold, where Axel was pretty sure war took place between siblings, and they made it their life goals to help others.

The twins were currently teaching a small group of nine year olds the importance of grammar. Smiling, Axel sat with Gabriel at her side.

Turning her attention to the large folder, Axel turned to page 14. She gaped, impressed and amazed. Gabriel had narrowed the location of where Spider-Man is from, due to his arrival times and direction, to Queens.

"Gabriel, this is amazing. Are you sure you don't want to be a Detective?" She asked, looking at Gabriel. Gabriel looked at ease, relaxing into the plush chair.

"I'm sure, Ax. You know I'm going fufil my life dream to become a smooth criminal." He joked, winking at Axel. She smirked, gently (for her) hitting his shoulder. Their conversation quickly moved from Spider-Man to the Avengers.

"I wonder what they are doing right now?" Axel pondered aloud to Gabriel, unknowingly sharing the same thought with the Avengers.

Something nagged at Axel, begging for her attention. Axel tensed slightly, following the soft humming sound she just noticed that was coming from across the room. 

She followed the source, seeing just another woman, who obviously a caretaker. The woman, with blonde hair in a bun and pale skin, was talking to a young girl.

Axel paled, standing suddenly.

The woman, upon hearing her chair drag slightly on the floor, looked up. Their eyes met. Axel's pale blue clashed with a deep brown of the woman.

Behind the woman was a large beast made of pure, blinding Light. The being of Light was large, having to sit in order to stay in the room. The being made of Light looked like a dragon, if a dragon had fur, six mighty wings and two heads.

The woman titled her head, and Axel watched as the large creature followed the motion in sync. The woman shuffled, and Axel watched as the large being pulled its six wings close to its body, as if it was nervous.

She walked over, smiling hesitantly at Axel. "I guess you can see my True Form, then. I need to talk to you, Hunter Axel of The Traveler."

-

"FRIDAY, please tell me Steve is not getting his little team together?" Tony asked, his glasses sitting innocently next his cold coffee as he held his head up with his hand. He was going over yet another rough draft of the Sokovia Accords, highlighting all the loopholes he could find. And he was only ten pages in, and it looked like a unicorn puked on the pages. 

Tony was afraid he was going to run out of ink for his highlighters.

After Ultron, Tony couldn't let their actions get out of control. Having watched enough Tv, he knows that if they don't have restrictions, the Avengers could become wild, doing what they want, claiming it is for justice. 

Steve, despite wanting to do justice for people, will fall down that rabbit hole. Tony knows it.

After the last mission, Tony begged Steve to remove Wanda from the team after the witch nearly killed civilians trapped in a bus. Steve, however, just put on a disappointed face and began to rant about how Wanda was still 'just a kid', despite being in her late 20's.

Wanda just smirked, going all doe eyes when Steve turned to face her. However, when Steve turned his back to her, Wanda began to smirk in victory, her eyes almost glowing. Screw that, sometimes her eyes do glow red as she smirks in victory.

"I'm afraid they have already left for Lagos, Boss. I can give him a call, if you want?" FRIDAY didn't sound happy about it, but was willing to put aside her slowly growing hatered of certain members of the Avengers.

Tony groaned, feeling his temples throb in pain. He idly began rubbing his forehead in a massage pattern before answering his A.I. "It's fine, baby girl. How's the search of Spider-Man going?"

"I have discovered Spider-Man's identity," FRIDAY said as images appeared in front of Tony, showing a young teen, with pale skin and wild brown hair. "His name is Peter Benjamin Parker. He is currently living with his Aunt, May Parker, after his parents passed away."

Suddenly, more images appeared. Many were blurry, but Tony still could make out Spider-Man's figure and another person. Squinting his eyes, Tony saw that it was that bizarre woman, who calls herself 'The Guardian' of humanity.

"He has been spotted talking to The Guardian in many occasions. Their current pattern shows they meet at random times. Also, The Guardian appears to run a free home for homeless children, allowing them to go to school. She goes by 'Axel Hunter'."

"Axel, huh?" Tony pondered. "She looks like a Rachael to me. Something about her hair." He shrugged, picking up his cold mug of coffee and drinking all of it in one chug.

He grimaced, but continued to drink. Pepper has gotten him into the habit of not wasting food or drinks. Tony sighs, placing the mug on the table. Pepper. To think, one single argument can lead to a break in their relationship.

Dum-E coo'ed, picking up his mug to place elsewhere. He turned sharply, accidentally releasing the mug during the process. Tony ignored the mug shattering, turning to Dum-E.

"C'mere, Dum-E."

Dum-E stayed still as Tony repaired his creations grip sensitivity. After all the years, it was expecting to get loose. Still, Tony cared for all of his creations.

Patting Dum-E, Tony stood, feeling like he just escaped death. He was sure his eye bags had bags, considering how heavy they felt. Tony stumbled his way to the lift, where he went for his Penthouse.

The doors opened, revealing the large penthouse. Tony stepped in. "Honey, I'm home!" He said sarcastically, knowing he wasn't going to get a reply from anyone. After Ultron, he doesn't allow anyone inside without his permission before hand.

Tony fell into his bed, not knowing that in a few hours, his entire world will change.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back! Life has been so crazy for me right now. This story has mostly been me writing at 3am, than going back later to fix all the grammar and spelling mistakes that my very tired brain had wanted to get down as quickly as possible. No need to worry about CA:CW, I've already planned it out. I just need to re-watch the entire movie to get down the characters little twitches or emotional response rather than just take everything from a website which has a script. funnnnnn.

In a fraction of a second, Axel had conjured a Nightstalker blade to the woman's throat. "What are you?" She hissed in question as the woman simply blinked slowly, unfazed by the sharp blade resting against the soft flesh of her throat.

  
Axel narrowed her eyes at the woman, not allowing her arm to waver. Her palms started to sweat cold, covering the handle of her blade. Axel subtly breathed deeper with her stomach, but had a feeling the woman knew she was nervous.

"Let me explain," she said, and suddenly her massive wings unfold. They glowed so bright, that if Axel was human, would have been blinded.

Axel blinked, and they were in her room. Jhin was frozen, as was Sundance. Blade still to her neck, the woman smiled. "It is good to finally meet you, young one," she murmured with the corner of her mouth, eyes hungrily drinking in every detail of Axel.

Axel gulped, throat suddenly dry. "What are you?" She pressed, willing herself to stay calm. Panicking does nothing.

"I am an Caelestibus, commonly known as an Angel," the woman, Angel, replied. Axel tensed. Was she like the Angels depicted in the Tv shows she had seen? The shows, one named after the devil and the other about mythical creatures hunted by two men, depicted them very differently.

One showed a self centred Devil, who learns about humanity and becomes a better person. The other show told a different story, depicting Angels in a harsh light; cold and un-emotional. Where did this one fall into?

"Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you." The Angel gently pushed the Nightstalker blade from her throat, hands gently clasping around Axel's. She squeezed gently, the blade falling from Axel's hand. It turned into a dark purple smoke before it hit the ground, dispersing into the air.

"What's your name?" Axel asked dumbly, grasping at straws. Seriously, this world is crazy. First with an Earth not broken and ravaged by Cabal, Fallen or Vex, then with superheros' and now a literal Angel standing before her?

What the Traveler is her life?

"My real name can't be pronounced by tongue. It's more of a movement of molecules, like a mini explosion. I seem keen on the name Jessica, so that is my human name.

"I have arrived to become an anchor to your world and this one," Jessica said, releasing Axel's hand. It fell to her side, fingers curled in limpness. "Without a constant connection, your abilities would start to fade, following your life. You would start to loose all your bodily fluids, forcing your organs to shut down and rotting away your skin until -"

"Yea, I get it. Not a pretty picture." Axel sighed, looking at Jhin. Jhin was still frozen, his optic shining a bright blue as he must have been catching Sundance up on everything.

Her eyes slid to Cayde, then back to Jessica.

Jessica was watching her carefully, face carefully blank of emotion. It reminded Axel of a song, about a wolf befriending a rabbit before devouring it in hunger. Was this a test?Axel took the time to study Jessica, who seemed content to allow it.

Jessica had an average looking face, with pale blonde hair and brown eyes. She would have looked normal, if it weren't for her eyes. Her eyes looked impossibly old, as if she had seen the births of stars and the deaths of planets.

Maybe she had. Axel had no way of telling.

"You seem concerned and alarmed. Does my appearance bother you? It shouldn't, it is based off of your sexual desires," Jessica looked down at herself, as if she was trying to find a flaw in her human appearance.

Axel glanced away with a sigh, because of course that was what Jessica was worried about, before looking at the Angel again. She did a double take. In the second it took for her to look away and back, Jessica had changed her white blouse and black trousers for a revealing white robe which pooled at the floor.

A goddamn halo was above Jessica's head, along with small white wings on her back. In the background, Axel swore she could hear a church choir faintly singing.

"Is this more appealing?"

"Oh my Traveler," Axel muttered, staring at the awaiting Jessica. She cleared her throat, voice loud and strong. "Jessica, you don't need to continue to be more...appealing," her eyes drifted over the very attractive form of Jessica before stopping at her expressive eyes. "Your first outfit, or form, or whatever, was more comfortable."

"Oh," Jessica blinked in suprise, before the choir stopped, and Jessica was standing in front of her, her outfit back to normal with no halo or wings visible. Thank the Traveler.

"Usually humans would be clawing to get my clothes off."

"Yea, a perk about being dead, I am not normal." Axel smiled tightly, before continuing with her earlier thought about Jessica.

"I take it this isn't your true appearance? Or at least, multiple forms." Axel managed to ask after Jessica admited to trying to sexually appeal to her. It wasn't everyday this happened to her. Jessica's face seemed familiar, but it is lost in the fog that is her memory before her time as a Guardian.

Jessica looked up, raising an eyebrow. "No. You can see my true form, if you concentrate. Or, how my form appears in your brain."

So the creature behind Jessica was her true form, Axel pondered. "Is it true?"

"Is what true, young one?"

"Heaven and Hell."

Jessica paused, a smirk pulling at her pink lips. "No. At least, some of it. It seems much has been lost in translation over the many years I have been away. Heaven is a paradise, for all living creatures. It is actually below Hell, who rule the sky. Hell is...well, basically they teach you what you did wrong before letting you go to Heaven."

"Huh," Axel said. "So I take it all the torture is made up?"

Jessica waved a hand, scoffing. "Of course it isn't," she said as Axel's eyes went wide. "It's not as goery as you humans describe. Most of it is just mental torture."

Oh. That sounds _worse_. Well, as Azula always cheerfully says 'Don't break the body, break the mind'. And the Warlock wonders why Titans and Hunters' Guardians actively avoid her in social discussions. It seems the Warlocks have very long discussions on how to break someone without laying a finger on them.

Axel sighed. Well, at least she doesn't have to experience Hell or Heaven. By the Traveler, with the amount of sinful yet enjoyable things she had done alone would make Satan or whoever rules Hell blush red.

Axel looked around as a tense silent fell across the room. She rolled onto the balls of her feet before leaning back onto her heels, continuing to move up and down. "Sooooo," she began, "you going to un-freeze time?"

The words were barley out of her mouth before time began again.

Jhin, as expected to seeing Axel suddenly re-appear in her room, shrieked loudly in surprise and horror. " **AXEL! DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME**!" He yelled, voice several octaves higher.

"I didn't mean to!" Axel protested as Sundance added commentary.

"Yea, we don't need another incident with replacing all the glass in the central tower area again," drawled Sundance, amusement in her vocie as Jhin turned sharply to scold his fellow Ghost about 'the incident'.

" _I told you to never mention that again in 100 years or Cayde will know what happened to his favourite Ramen bowl_!" Jhin hissed in a low voice.

"Ramen?" Came a hopeful voice from the bed. Cayde was on his elbows, optics bright at the mention the current love of his life.

Axel sighed, running a hand through her hair. Her hair, slick with sweat and grease, was not a pleasant feeling. She glanced to Jessica, only to see the Angel gone. She raised an eyebrow, but shifted her focus to Cayde.

"Morning Cayde!" She chirped, the sun making its slow ascent to the sky. The light from the closed blind seeped through.

Cayde groaned, fully sitting up and swinging his legs over the bed, stretching. His cables pulled tightly as his chest plates flared from under neath his clothes, releasing any trapped heat with a near silent hiss with Cayde sighing happily.

"Sorry for the freak out, Kid," Cayde began, already feeling guilty that he made Axel worry about him. He is a grown Exo, and has nearly 300 years on Axel, for Travelers sake! He usually has better control of his emotions.

Axel brought a hand up, a smirk pulling at her lips. "It's fine Cayde," she said, before moving towards her joint bathroom. At first, Axel didn't want to difference herself from the others, but Jhin argued that she might get into a rough fight.

He argued that no one wants to see her own blood on her hands, and then Axel agreed. The amount of bullets she had collected in the bathroom after she had stopped a robbery was sometimes ridiculous!

That doesn't stop people from loading an entire clip into her, though.

Rude.

"Ooh! What's this, Cayde wonders" Axel heard him ponder in third person before the door shut on Cayde and the two arguing Ghosts. Turning on the shower, she quickly stripped. Naked, she glanced in the mirror. The mirror is tall enough to show her torso and up.

She glanced in the mirror, trailing a hand up and down her stomach, the muscles flexing underneath her finger tips. She traced the area where the Black Widow shot her, the skin just pink enough to stand out against her pale peach skin tone.

The scar would most likely disappear the next time Axel would check. While Axel used to have many scars along her body to proudly show off to other Guardians, who in turn shared scars and stories, Axel thought it would be better to trade scars for smooth planes of skin.

(The only scars she still carries is one large scar at the back of her head. Jhin had admitted that he had to re-structure her skull while he basically re-made her from just bones, due to it having been caved in, almost like someone or something slammed into the back of her head with brutal force. )

Not wanting to remember those memories of the 'Hero', Axel stepped into the shower. She just stood for a few minutes, relaxing underneath the warm water pouring down onto her tense body.

"Do all humans just stand in the shower?"

Axel sharply turned, bringing her body low to the floor. She sighed, seeing Jessica standing stiffly in the bathroom. Unashamed in her nakedness, Axel continued with her shower, if a bit faster as she washed her hair and body.

She may not be embarrassed of her body, but that didn't mean she wanted an Angel watch her clean herself.

"Jessica, It's rude to watch someone shower." Axel said, turning the spray off and wrapping a towel around herself. When she glanced up, Jessica was, once again, gone. "That's going to get annoying fast." She muttered to herself.

Wrapping a towel around herself, she stepped into her bedroom. Cayde was waiting on her bed, a metallic eyebrow raised as he watched Jhin and Sundance argue, the two Ghosts' spitting very explicit swears. Axel ignored Cayde as he sneakily slipped out a rather old looking note pad from one of his pockets, writing down the curses as if he was a journalist.

He glanced up upon hearing Axel's bare feet touch the wooden floor, take her in before turning his attention back to the Ghosts', optics widening at Jhin's latest curse, the pen almost flying across the page.

Axel quickly changed into her spare clothes. Baggy cargo pants tucked into comfortable footwear named Uggs, and a too big t-shirt. Axel had chosen this outfit for comfort, which was now something she is used to.

Being a Guardian was more than just shooting Cabal, Fallen or Vex. A Fireteam would spend weeks, perhaps even months, together. Thus, they all were expected to see another member naked or near enough.

Still, it was a bit bothersome when Omir insisted of getting a tan, spending hours in the sun. In the end, he managed to get a shade darker. His Ghost, Pluto, had gotten annoyed at Omir and gave Omir his wish, since Omir had skin which would not tan.

Pluto swore Azula, her Ghost, Korra, Axel and Jhin into secrecy. It was never mentioned again.

Axel stretched, smirking at the memory of a proud Omir and an annoyed Pluto. She flopped onto the bed, nearly hitting Cayde. He hissed lightly, moving his note pad to the other side of his body, where she was not laying.

They both relaxed, the air in comfortable silence. Axel closed her eyes, only to re-open them when Cayde began to talk.

"You know, I never thought I would come back."

Axel titled her head back, semi-wet hair tickling the back of her neck. She raised an eyerbow. "Oh?"

"Axel, I died," her eyes widen as Cayde sighed. "Killed by Prince Uldren with my own gun, Ace of Spades."

"Prince Uldren? As in, Queen Mara's brother? Why would he do that?" She asked, sitting up. "And we can't die! We are resurrected by our Ghosts."

"Sundace was shot by the rifleman, Pirrha. It was awful, Axel. I felt like there was a gaping hole inside of me. I-I couldn't feel her! Then Mr.Prince-I-Am-A-Guardian-Killer came and used my own gun to shoot me. God, poor Dmitri! He was the Guardian who came with me. Shit. I've probably scarred him for life, trying to reassure him everything was fine as I was dying." Cayde groaned, setting his note pade down onto his lap.

In the background, Jhin and Sundace stopped their argued, listening in. Sundance gently floated over, bumping her body against Cayde's head.

Axel's breath left her body. To not feel Jhin? His presence hummed gently inside of her mind and body, offering comfort and warmth in even the coldest and darkest of days.

Axel was not ashamed to admit that she might lose her mind to insanity and grief without his presence.

Without Jhin, Axel would slowly began to rot. Her flesh would break down, without anything to keep her cells in check. And yet, Cayde still tried to reassure the Guardian, Dmitri, that everything would be fine even as he was dying.

Without thinking, Axel embraced Cayde, ignoring the feeling of his cold metal on her freshly hot skin. She buried her head into the crock of his neck, shutting her eyes tightly, as if it will stop the images of Cayde laying on the floor, dying, coming to mind.

"Cayde, it wasn't your fault! I wasn't even there, and even I know that!" She spoke, feeling Cayde hug her back just as tightly. "You are the best man I have ever known. Besides, you trained Dmitri. The little Hunter will be fine."

Cayde chuckled, resting his head on her shoulder. His hood was pushed back slightly, allowing his horn to shine. "Sometimes, I wish I could adopt all of my Hunters. It would be so much easier."

Smirking, Axel pulled back. "Oh yeah? Then I guess you need to go into retirement, old man," she teased, smiling as Cayde huffed and puffed at being call an 'old man'. In truth, Cayde didn't really mind.

Throwing petty insults and playful barbs, Cayde allowed himself to live a fantasy he would never have thought would happen; have a family. With Axel as his sassy daughter, (which she took from him, obviously. He was a great teacher and Cayde wants to have the cheesy 'WORLD'S GREATEST DAD' mug) with Sundance and Jhin hovering, all four of them laughing and sharing jokes.

-

From inside a burning ruin, Jessica smiled sadly at her charge. The small window finally closed, snapping shut before disappearing into dust, falling to litter the ground. All around Jessica was Heaven; laying broken and burning.

Heaven's once tall, curling spires lay broken in pieces, having been the first to fall. The once beautiful Garden was bare, save for the dead branches of the once healthy plants and trees.

Above her, Hell trembled. Half of Hell was already gone, having smashed into Heaven in the fall. Jessica was the last of this place, last of the Angels. Around her were the bodies of her family.

Heaven's angels had the typical white wings, while Hell's had black. The trapped souls screamed, begging to released. Jessica couldn't allow that to happen. If that happened, Hell would finally collapse, shattering Heaven before they would both fall onto the multiple universes.

If that happened, Jessica feared that Vigintillion lives would end. Jessica was trapping a few billions souls for over Vigintillion souls.

Jessica now knows the phrase 'Hell is paved with good intentions'. And it made physically fell sick, her humans body's stomach in pain.


	11. Chapter Eleven

"Cayde," Axel warns, crossing her arms over her chest. They were still in Axel's room, after the Hunter went out and re-assured everyone that she did not, in fact, get 'beamed up by Scotty and probed by aliens'. She didn't get the reference, but Cayde, wheezing with laughter, apparently did.

  
He tried to explain, but Axel was confused. Why would aliens want to get her DNA by sticking something up her anal passage?

"Fine," Cayde grumbled, before a shimming blinding light travelled up his body. His clothes stayed the same, but his Exo body changed. Gone was the metal structure. Instead, a male human face, with a deep tan skin tone and wild black hair, blinked up at Axel.

Sundance zipped up to the man's face, narrowing her single optic at him. "If you mess this up, I will kill you myself!" She hissed, before turning to Axel, visibly more calmer.

She cleared her throat, having picked up on more human characteristics. "Axel, meet Cayde-6 2.0. Having scanned his Exo facial shape, and having analysed over 10,000 male human faces, I have managed to build a complex 4-D hardlight holographic visual over Cayde's body. Cayde can feel everything with his new 'human characteristics'."

The man grinned, showing white teeth. He removed his gloves, staring down at his now human looking hands. "Man, I can get used to this!" Cayde exclaimed, before looking up at an unimpressed Axel. "What?"

"You look....strange." Axel said, leaning closer to Cayde, her eyes scanning over his new human face. She raised an eyebrow, seeing rather familiar traits. "Why do you look like you could pass as my blood relative?"

"That's all me," Sundance interrupted. "I figured it would be eaiser to do, as I have already scanned your face multiple times. Also, Cayde has always wanted to be a father. Congratulations Cayde, It's a girl."

"Father?!"

Cayde and Axel exclaimed, turning to look at each other in surprise. Cayde grinned, suddenly giddy. His bright aqua eyes, looking inhuman due to how bright they glowed, twinkled with mischief.

Cayde opened his mouth, but Axel raised a hand. "Not a word, Cayde." She grumbled, sitting on her bed. Her brows furrowed as she thought.

Axel and human-looking-Cayde had similar features. They both shared wild, untamed hair and blue eyes. Cayde was only a few shades darker than Axel in skin tone. While Axel had a more slimmer face, while Cayde had a more square jaw, but was still slim enough to have a resemblance.

Maybe she could try and say that she adopted Cayde as her father? Did people of this time even do that?

The bed dipped, signalling that Cayde moved to sit next to her. "Hey, if you are not comfortable with me looking like your father, I can ask Sundance to change my appearance." He said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She sighed, looking at Cayde. "It's not that. It's just, how will I tell everyone? 'Hello everyone, this is my friend Cayde-6, who is an Exo from another universe. Like me! He looks like me, so call him Grandpa Cayde!'"

Before Cayde could respond, Axel's door burst open, revealing a panting Gabriel. He took in the image before him; Axel, sitting on her bed, with a man sitting next to her and was getting closer to her.

They both looked shocked at his sudden appearance.

Gabriel did the only logical thing; he screamed and pointed at a startled Axel and yelled; " _AXEL! WERE YOU ABOUT TO DO THE SEX?_ "

  
Axel could only stare, horrified, at Gabriel. Taking her stunned silence as a 'yes', Gabriel gasped dramatically, still pointing a finger at the startled pair. "YOU WERE, WEREN'T YOU?" Gabriel lowered his voice to hiss at them, " _We have children on this floor_."

"No!" Axel said, quickly standing and walking up to Gabriel, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Gabriel! Keep your voice down! Me and Cayde were just talking, that's all!"

Gabriel, upon hearing the news, relaxed. "Oh thank God! You really scared me, Axel," he said, before leaning his body around Axel to peer at an amused Cayde. "Hi! My name is Gabriel, nice to meet you Cayde."

"Pleasure," Cayde hummed, smirking at the teen from the bed. Cayde was already liking Gabriel. Kid had a sense of humour. The pranks the teen could help him with....

Gabriel cleared his throat, turning to look at Axel. "Axel, you need to look at the News. It's bad."

"How bad?" She asked, furrowing her brow as she thought. It couldn't be anything world ending, as the Avengers would be already dealing with it. Jhin would contact her if it was that serious.

However, Jhin was busy, stuck in a meeting, of all things. In the past few months, Jhin, and by default Axel, have helped nearly 20 adults into leading a healthy life. Jhin had already managed to land some of the adults into university, letting them leave with enough money to get started.

Only the adults and original children, like Gabriel, knew of Jhin. It made Axel feel kind of shitty, taking credit for all of Jhin's hard work. Axel was smart, but not Jhin level smart.

He was basically an unlimited source of Light combined with the internet. And that is down scaling his power.

"It's to do with the Avengers in Lagos." It was said in a rush, but Axel caught it. The two Hunters frowned, processing the information. "One of their missions has gone wrong again, leading to civilian deaths."

Axel and Cayde shared a glance. As a Guardian, it was their sworn duty to protect Humanity, in all its forms. While the Last City was not a thing in this universe, Axel tends to think of 'America' as her Last City.

In a flash of light, Axel was in her armour, fitting her snugly and securly, save for her helmet. Now a days, Axel tends to leave it behind. Nothing, save for beings stronger than herself will be able to crush her skull.

Cayde has now also stood, with his hands raised in a 'calm down' gesture. Axel felt a brief flash of irritation before she calmed herself.

"Hey, hey! You can't just burst after them! Besides, they are probably long gone by now." Cayde reasoned. Despite being seen as a non-serious person, he still has his moments.

"C'mon, think like a Hunter. Like a Guardian. If a team of Avengers has caused deaths and collateral damage, what will they do? Have a meeting with whoever is in charge!" He lightly scolded Axel, slipping into his 'Vanguard Voice'. However, later, Gabriel would tell him that he was using a 'Dad Voice'.

"I-I guess," Axel muttered, staring down at her braced combat boots. "If it were a Guardian, they would be sent to stand before the Vanguard. Then have a meeting with their class Vanguard."

"There's the Hunter I trained," Cayde teased, unable to help it as he poked her cheek. She glared at him, slapping his hand away. He chuckled, causing Axel's glare to loose heat. "Let the Avenger's Vanguard, or Government, deal with the fallout."

"Yes Sir."

"Hmm," Cayde looked over her Hunter Armour.

Axel had kept most of the main armour structure, allowing the armour to support her body. The 'heavy' part of the armour was gone (even then, compared to Titan's armour, it was as light as a feather), showing the dark under suit more.

Axel was making herself more lighter, he thought, walking in a circle to inspect her gear. Rightly so, nothing in this time period can break through even a Guardians' thin under suit. Advantages of living nearly 700 years into the future.

Axel's under suit tucks into her braced boots, covered by a thin layer of armour around her thighs, protecting her main arteries including her Femoral, Popliteal and Tibialis arteries. Despite being in an age where knives and bullets won't penetrate her armour, Axel decided to keep it, as a 'just in case'. Besides, when bullets hit her armour, the lead shatters. The amount of bullet pieces she has had to carefully remove in her bathroom gets annoying, otherwise the bullets might get stuck and act like an itch you can't scratch.

At her waist, Axel had multiple pouches and belts, all serving a different purpose. One belt held ammo, another for holding her weapons and the final belt to being a literal belt.

Cayde eye'd the pouches on her legs and belts, curious as to what was hidden in them. Probably knives and lethal objects, you know, the standard Hunter gear. And, if he remembers correctly, filled with sweets she would give to children if they appeared sad whenever she visited the more civilian heavy areas.

Axel's chest armour had multiple layers; the main heavy layer was from her neck to upper ribs, covering her throat, heart, solar plexus and breasts. The next layer was flexible yet still as strong, covering her stomach and waist. The last layer was simply support, also allowing more movement than typical armour. Her undershirt, tight against her skin, tucked down into her belts.

Axel had gauntlets on her arms, trailing from her wrists to her upper arm. The armour was mainly flexible, having only harden area around her wrist, forearm and upper arm, allowing her to ram into her opponents and block blows. Axel was wearing gloves with enforced grip, allowing her to climb faster and easier.

Lastly, Axel's Hunter cape. Her hood covered her wild mane she calls hair, shadowing her face. The material seemed to be in good condition, having only a few more holes since last time Cayde gazed upon it.

Cayde finished circling Axel, smiling. It felt odd, to feel the phantom feeling of muscles Cayde doesn't have pull and flex. "Good adaption. Speed is useful in a fight."

"Question."

Cayde and Axel turned to Gabriel, having forgotten the young human was in the room. Axel raised her eyebrows, silently allowing him to ask his question.

"Are you Axel's Commander?" He asked, keen eyes glancing between the Hunter's. "Or are you her Dad?"

Axel and Cayde shared a look. Silence, then Axel licked her suddenly dry lips and stepped forward.

"Cayde is....my Dad and Commander. He was the one who trained me." Axel said, deciding to follow Sundance's plan. It would avoid any loop holes. "He was the one I was telling everyone about, remember? It make all of you laugh."

Gabriel's eyes brightened as he remembered, smile lifting his face. "Your Dad got his foot stuck in a toilet? Wasn't that rather embarrassing for you?"

Axel scoffed, her armour splitting apart to reveal her normal clothes underneath. She folded her arms across her light blue shirt, shifting her weight to one side. "Trust me, you'll become immune after a while. Besides, Ca- Dad is known to be a prankster in our city."

Gabriel nodded his head, before he turned to her rooms door. "I'm going to catch up on my Tv shows, then. And remember, watch the News!" He called over his shoulder before the teen shut the door, leaving Axel and Cayde alone.

Axel turned to Cayde, raising an eyebrow. "I guess we need to watch the News now."

Cayde raised one of his eyebrows in return. "Then what are we waiting for, young Grasshopper?"

Axel gave him a bitch-face in reply. "Cute."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I regret that this is nearly a month or so break, but my life has been kind of shit. I've fallen into a funk, where I have written more chapters, but have no motivation to post my work or to do anything. I've been emotionally and physically drained, due to lack of sleep, chasing after my family and one of my friends causing a big fuss over something very small. My mother is trying to help, but can't relate to what I'm going through.
> 
> Anyway, I've also written another story, between continuing to this story and a few essays I've had to do. I might post it, but I dunno. Depends if I get a good night sleep for once.
> 
> EDIT: Just posted the chapter, and already I've spotted errors. This is probs what I get by posting and editing this while half asleep.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark goes to recruit Spider-Man, and they both call Axel.

Peter Parker was not known for panicking. Despite having stopped cars with his bare hands, or meeting The Guardian and her rather...quirky (weird, but who was he to judge) robot friend, Peter was not known for panicking.

  
Peter unlocked the door, listening to his music as he places his bags down, calling out to his Aunt. "Hey, May," he said, walking into their dining room and placing his bag down, as he usually does.

"How was school today?" Aunt May asked from the living room.

"It was okay," Peter said, walking into the living room and looking to his Aunt. "There's this crazy car parked outside...."

Peter stopped, feeling his stomach drop to the floor, seeing Tony Spark casually sitting on his Aunt's couch, eating one of her home baked goods. Aunt May was smiling brightly at him, arm resting on the couches back.

"Oh, Mr.Parker," Tony freaking Stark greets Peter.

"Um," Peter said, feeling his heart pick up as he removes his headphones. "Wh-What are you doing? Hey, uh, I-I'm Peter," and he's done it again! Of course Mr.Stark knows who he is! He's Iron Man. Oh no....

"Tony," Mr.Stark introduces himself as Peter continues to babble.

"What, what, what, are you doing here?" Peter asks, crossing his arms over his chest in a self conscious hug. If Iron Man was going to blurt out his secret in front of his Aunt....Peter would be grounded for life.

"'bout time we met," Mr.Stark says around a mouthful of his Aunt's baked goods. Peter's eyes dart to Aunt May. "You've been getting my Email's, right?"

With Aunt May looking at him in excitement, Peter decides to follow along as Mr.Stark winks at him with both eyes, despite having a bruised eye "Y-Yeah," he says as Mr.Stark subtly prompts him to agree.

"Yeah, regarding the...." Peter freezes, not know what to say.

Thankfully, Aunt May intervenes. "Why didn't you tell me about the Grant?" She asks, sounding hurt.

Peter shrugs with one arm. "...about the Grant." Peter finishes lamely.

"The September Foundation," Mr.Stark added, helping Peter.

"Right," he nearly squeaked.

"Yeah," Mr.Stark agrees. "Remember when you applied?"

"Yeah,"

"I approved." Mr.Stark says. "So now we're in business."

Aunt May turns her body to face Peter, smiling at him proudly and questionably, her gaze sharp.

"You didn't tell me anything, what's with that?" Aunt May asks, and Peter feels guilty that he is lying to his Aunt. "Are you keeping secrets from me now?"

"Well, I just know how much you...love...surprises, so I thought I would let you know...what...Anyway, what did I apply for?" Peter rambles nervously. What if Aunt May knows he is lying?

"That's what I'm here to hash out," Mr.Stark says, raising an arm in Peter's direction.

"Okay, hash it out, okay,"

"It's so hard to believe that she's someone's Aunt," Mr.Stark smoothly says as Aunt May laughs in embarrassment. He quickly looked between them, startled. What is going on between them?! What did Peter miss?

"Yeah, well, we come in all shapes and sizes, you know," May says, smiling brightly at Peter.

"You know this woman's Meat loaf is exceptional, you know-" Mr.Stark begins to say, but Peter interrupts.

"You know what, I'm going to stop you there," Peter says, rubbing his hands before raising them. If Tony Stark says he's been accepted, Peter needs to get the main question out. "Does this Grant have money involved or whatever? No?"

"Yeah, yeah, It's pretty well funded." Mr.Stark says, smiling. "Look who you are talking to." He turned slightly to Aunt May. "Can I have five minutes with him?"

"Sure," Aunt May says, shrugging yet still grinning at Peter, having believed that he has been accepted into The September Foundation Grant.

Once inside Peter's bedroom, Tony bolts the door and spits out his Aunt's Walnut loaf, with Peter watching in slight disgust.

"As Walnut date loaves go, that wasn't bad," Tony says as he looks around Peter's slightly cramped room, spotting Peter's collection of old computers in the corner, sitting sadly.

"Whoa, what do we have here. Retro tech, huh? Thrift store? Salvation Army?"

Peter blinked at the barrage of questions aimed his way. "Uh, the garbage, actually," he admits.

"Your a dumpster diver?" Tony asks in a plain tone, neither shocked or expecting it.

"Yea," Peter pauses for a minute, considering what to say. "I definitely did not apply for your Grant-"

"Ah-a!" Tony interrupts. "Me first."

Peter felt his soul leave his body. Of course Iron Man has videos of him as Spider-Man.

After Tony persuades Peter to come to Germany, despite Peter's semi weak and serious argument about Home-work, he speaks up. 

"Uh, Mr.Stark, can I get a phone call first?" Peter's voice wobbles slightly, not used to have a billionaire genius superhero in his messy room. Tony raised an eyebrow in question.

-

Eyes narrowed, heart beating steadily, Axel took a calming breath as she narrows her eyes at the timer. The egg shaped timer was steadily clicking away slowly. Tick. Tick. Tick. Axel jumped into action when it shrieked loudly.

Oven gloves on her hands (Gabriel informed her that the smell of burning flesh was not pleasant), Axel pulled out the trays of cookies. Closing the oven door with her knee, and then turning the oven off with her elbow, Axel easily pulled the Oven gloves off.

Smirking, Axel proudly rested her hands on her hips. "And Cayde said I couldn't handle baking!" 

"To be fair, last time you tried to bake something, Azula died from food poisoning. I don't know how, but you somehow used all the out of date ingredients." Jhin said, floating above her shoulder. 

"You should test the cookies, just in case." He added.

"Thanks Jhin. It's nice to know you trust me in providing meals." Axel drawled, tipping her head to look at a sheepish looking Jhin.

Jhin gave her a look, one that screamed 'really?' even if he didn't have a face. " _That_ is the reason why we have _real Adults_ who cook for our charges."

Her comm.link started ringing, ending their banter. 

Axel accepted the call the a press of a button with a flick of her hand, pressing the comm.link hidden in her ear. "Cayde, for the last time, no, we will not get a mini van to drive around to hand out sweets. I've been told it is socially not acceptable."

"This is The Guardian?" A voice Axel faintly recognises asks, sounding faint, as if the speaker was far from the phone. Axel furrows her brow in confusion. Who has her comm.link number?

"Yea, Mr.Stark. This is...The Guardian. She's pretty cool." Peter's voice sounds like he is in awe. Role model, then?

"I must say, I don't want to know what kind of conversations you and this 'Cade' talk about." Tony Stark lightly says. Axel and Jhin share a glance before her armour is on.

"If you have kidnapped Peter, I will hunt you down and tear out your eyeballs and tongue and force you to eat them." Axel threatens, as Jhin pulls up a holo map and begins tracking Peter's call.

"Axel wait! Mr.Stark hasn't kidnapped me! He wants me to go to Germany, and wants to know if you'll come as well." Peter happily says. "Some Avenger's have went rouge, and he wants my help to stop them."

"...It seems the Avengers are not as heroic and by the book as they said," Axel murmurs, amused as she begins to relax. She swipes a cooling cookie off the tray, happily testing her baking skills. "Is this to do with the Accords?"

"Yea, it is, actually. You know, for someone who is dismissive of us, you seem to know a lot about us, 'Axel'." Tony Stark says, sounding amused. "Are you sure you're not a fan girl?"

Jhin rolled his optic and, upon seeing Axel thoughtfully eating her cookie, no doubt tasting it for any side effects like vomiting, answers. "Axel is not a....'fan girl' of you. We have simply looked into what the 'superheros' of this time offer. And we are not impressed. Barely holding off an alien army? We Guardians do that in our sleep."

Jhin was aware he was bragging, and didn't care less. This Anthony 'Tony' Stark, aka Iron Man, needs to know how much stronger Axel was compared to them. Even then, Axel wasn't high up on the food chain back in the Tower, despite steadily working her way up.

"I'm sorry, but who is this? I was under the impression I would only be talking to The Guardian, but her nerdy sounding assistant." 

"Seeing as how my Guardian is currently stuffing her face with cookies, it seems you will have to deal with me," Jhin coldly replies, ignoring Axel even when she gave him a bitch face at his attitude. "You may call me Jhin."

"Well, Jhin, I would gladly appreciate it if your 'Guardian' would accompany Peter to Germany. That is, if you support the Accords." Tony bargained.

"Hmm, the terms are acceptable. My Guardian is fond of Peter Parker. And if I have time, I might even help fix loop holes your Government's trying to hide with complex and rarely used words." Jhin agreed, knowing Axel would demand to be there to protect Peter.

"Oh, uh, thanks, Jhin. I'm going to text you the address you will need to be in the next two hours." Tony, confused but thankful at his offered help, hands the phone back to Peter.

"Jhin! You didn't have to get involved!" Peter exclaims.

Jhin simply hummed, watching Axel finish off the first batch of cookies on her own. Guiltily, she placed the trays back into their racks, brushing all the leftover off her armour subtly.

"Don't be silly, Peter. Jhin is right, I have grown fond of you. I will see you soon, okay?" Axel re-joined the conversation. "Don't do anything until I get there. See you soon, Spiderling."

Axel turned the comm.link off, putting her hands on her hips. She looked at Jhin. "You know, I've always wanted to test out using electric bolts as bullets for my Midnight Coup."

"AXEL, HAVE YOU FINISHED MAKING THE COOKIES YET?" Gabriel shouted, calling from the hallways. Axel's face dropped, knowing she had single handily ate all the cookies. She quickly made her exit.

-

"Are you sure The Guardian will be here? She is almost running late." Tony grumbled, taking one last glance around his private airport before looking down at his watch/Iron Gauntlet.

Peter was sitting next to him, squirming.

"I'm always on time, Stark."

Tony and Peter jumped, as Axel smoothly slid into the seat opposite Peter and Tony. She was relaxed, wearing her normal clothing. This time, she was wearing a tight shirt, that hugged her body, contrasting to her baggy cargo pants, tucked loosely into Uggs.

Tony kept his cringe to himself. This woman does not know how to dress herself. Her entire outfit clashes with each other. If she becomes an Ally, Tony is going to buy her a new wardrobe.

A large, wide range of clothing completed with notes on which go with what.

Still, Tony takes the time to familiarise himself with his new ally. The woman, Axel, still had the short hair, which puffed up into nearly every direction. From what he could tell, she had no gel.

Tony idly thinks that her bed hair must take years to fix.

Axel's face was nearly the mirror image of her apparent counter part, only with less wrinkles and her face was slim with youth. And Axel was muscled, Tony could tell, with every movement she made, her arms flexed. She was even more muscled than Tony, which was a surprise. But Tony was nearly past his prime.

But, being a Superhero, or in her case, 'Guardian', one had to physically fit.

Axel was smirking at him in amusement, Tony realised. She raised an eyebrow. "So, who wants to play 'I Spy'?"

Tony groaned, slumping in his seat at Peter quickly agreed, with the speed only the youth had. Tony had to suffer through this for four hours. Thankfully, due to his technology, it wasn't the usual ten hours.

Plus, he needed to find a way to get her to sign The Accords before they confront the Rouges.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter yay! To be honest, I was wondering when I would have been able to post this. Between not sleeping, being worn down and getting food poisoning (because why not) I've been spending most of my days laying in bed, my body aching, my head throbbing with a migraine and even more lack of sleep (due to the migraine). To top this all off, I threw up six times in four hours. Thus, my stomach was far too sensitive to have normal foods and I have been banished to eating soup.   
> I now know True Pain.  
> Anyway, after suffering for over a week, it finally broke. Finally. I should start posting about once a month? Between writing the story, living my life, editing the story, I hardly have any time. But I will try!


	13. Chapter Thirteen - The Butcher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cayde grows concerned, and a new Guardian emerges from the depths of the city.

"-and that is how I got banned from poker, racing and poster making activities in my own activities club." Cayde smugly informs the huddle of teenagers, who were wheezing with laughter or had a baffled, but amused, expressions.

  
"You live a weird life," AJ says, smirking widly. She was leaning against Gabriel, who was shaking with mirth. "But sounds cool. This Zavala guy sounds like an asshole."

"Don't get me wrong, Zavala is strict. But he is mostly strick because he cares about The City. He built it with his own two hands, as did all the Titans. The Warlock helped the civilains and the Hunters, well, hunting for food. It was a rough time." Cayde defended Zavala.

AJ shrugs, rolling her shoulders. "Just thinking he could have once in a while, ya know?"

Cayde smiled at his lap. "Yea, that he could use." He looked up, slowly growing worried. Axel hasn't appeared yet, despite promising to be here for the 'Group Therapy for Teenagers'. Axel nevers breaks a promise. That he knows.

He stood, gaining the attention of the room. "I'll be back, just gonna call Axel."

Cayde, after walking out into the hallways, glanced around with narrowed eyes before calling for Sundance. "Sundance, call Axel."

Sundance appeared, zooming close to Cayde. "No time! I just sensed a large burst of Light!"

Cayde blinks. "Light? But that's impossible! We are in another dimension." Cayde paused, thought about what he just said, and shook his head. "Nevermind, can you track it?"

Sundance narrowed her optic, looking annoyed. "No. The Light is all over the place. It's like trying to find a needle surrounded by needles, in a blackhole."

"Maybe it's another Guardian?" he suggested thoughtfully. Right now, the world needed Guardians more than ever.

It begs the question, what caused the surge of Light that, now that Cayde was aware of it, could feel? But it felt.....wrong.

~~**THE WORLD WAS HUMMING.** ~~

He could feel it, fingers twitching, trying to match the beautiful song that has filled his entire world and will not stop. He took comfort in it, despite the nurses and doctors telling him it was not real.

They tut, feeding him pills that do nothing. Psychotic disorder, they say. Dissociative disorder, they sigh. Insomnia, they write. He hears their whispers, the gossip. The song tells him things. It was his only constant companion. His true friend.

Unless prompted, he would happily sit and listen to the world sing and hum, its tune ever changing, not eating a thing as the world, no, the Universe sang to him.. The doctors and nurses worry that he will go into his mind and never return.

What do they know of him?

He is a Warrior, a Scholar, a Symbol. He has far more intellect then the doctors. 

"-always been like this?"

He stares at the white padded wall, eyes still blank, even as he listens. He is good at that; listening. From what he has heard, he could blackmail everyone in this mad house. Oh, and it would be _glorious_.

"From what we can gather. His name is," the doctor pauses. "He says his name is 'Butcher'. That's the most awareness we have gotten him. He simply asks for the song."

"The song?"

"His Psychotic Disorder. He claims he can hear a song. When he was first brought in, he ripped his cell-mates eyeballs out and used the blood to write...poems about the song."

"Jesus Christ,"

"Mmhm. After that, he gutted a guard. Played around with his artieies as they squirted out blood. Whoever this bastard is, he is a danger to himself and others."

Turning his head, he looked for the voices. The Doctor was talking with a woman, who had long red hair with a pale complex. Lazily, he thought about all the ways he could kill the Doctor. The song hummed in reply.

Slowly blinking, he was aware that the woman with fire red hair was studying him. She prodded him with her tools, unaware that Butcher was waiting.

And waiting.

**~~AND WAITING.~~ **

-

Grinning wide, Butcher channelled his Light. The Void energy underneath his fingertips vibrated in glee as he Void Blinks outside his cell. His Warlock robes slowly fold themselves around him, looking ragged and unused.

Grabbing a guards face, Butcher forced Void energy into the mans face. The man screamed, twitching madly. Easily, the Void energy rendered the mans brain to liquid.

Inmates screamed, hiding in their corners as the man's brain, a mixture of blood and a clear jell like substance, leak out of his nose and open mouth, stuck in a silent scream.

Butcher grinned madly underneath his helmet, the song singing his praises. He remembers! He is a Warlock, a Void walker.

A Guardian.

His lips curl into a cruel grin underneath his Warlock helmet. He ignores guards who shoot at him with guns, the bullets doing nothing to slow him down. Butcher doubts he will even bruise.

Twisting his Void to his will, Butcher pulls his hands apart, Void energy becoming visible as he pools his Light into the space between his palms. With a crackle, he threw his arm back and released the ball of Void.

Guards, not liking the look of the purple ball flying towards them, began to retreat. Butcher's Cataclysm easily caught up with them, the Void energy burning away the skin, muscles and then bones, turning everything to ash. And it burned cold.

Panting heavily, Butcher grinned underneath his helmet. That was fun!

**~~IT WAS, WASN'T IT?~~ **

Eye twitching, Butcher didn't mind when the song spoke to him. It was his every being.

Butcher Void Blinks out of the street, watching from the rooftop as blue and red lights flash. Finger tapping out a pattern, Butcher was humming.

**~~AND THE WORLD WAS HUMMING, AND ALL WAS RIGHT.~~ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short! I've been busy with school, and trying to handle all my hobbies, like drawing. Thankfully, I've not gotten sick again. I've wanted to add Butcher for a while, mainly because he's an awesome and a very unhinged individual. I won't lie, I enjoy writing him. And now you finally get to meet him!


	14. The Airport

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Axel and Peter have made it to the airport, and things have gotten chaotic before they knew it.

Axel narrowed her eyes as blood swelled over the curve of her lip and down her chin. She has her arms raised, ready to block in coming blows or deliver them. Well, to say the situation had gotten out of control very quickly was an understatement.

  
After landing, Axel, Peter and Tony met with the Avengers. It consisted of Black Widow (who stared calmly at Axel, the bitch), Black Panther, War Machine and Vision. Then, Tony told everyone that the Rouges will be at the airport.

Narrowing her eyes, Axel told Jhin to add her helmet. It appeared on her face in a flash of pixels, concealing her face from view. "You've got to teach me how you do that," Tony said before he stepped into one of his Iron Man suits.

"I'll give you the guide-lines. You are a genius after all, you can put two and two together and get four." Axel replied, amusement in her tone. Underneath her helmet, she cracked a grin.

Tony, from what she has seen and researched, was a good man. He saw the error of his ways, having carried around the guilt and burden of what his weapons have done in his heart (literally and figuratively).

The Avengers, she and Jhin concluded, where surprisingly lazy. Of course, they have appeared around the globe, helping people out. Axel had quickly noticed that despite a country's police having everything handled, sometimes the Avengers (led by Captain America) would stroll in without warning and setting off a large chain of reactions. (With what happened recently being the main example.)

  
The other Avenger's all had a backstory. Black Widow, aka Natalia Romanova, Russian spy from the Red Room. While Axel felt sorry for her situation, Romanova had a nasty habit of manipulating the people around her until they break.

Clinton Barton, circus act turned spy. He has a secret family,(that wasn't very secret if there are literally internet bread crumbs like credit card trails) who seem normal. Praised for his ability to never miss his shot. 

Bruce Banner, genius turned monster. Despite not meeting him, Axel highly respects the man. Both as a scientist and as the Hulk. Having a basic understanding of his work in gamma radiation, Axel and Jhin were thinking highly of the man.

Thor. Where to start with Thor? He was an alien, hailed as a God and has powers of lightning. Axel was curious on how he produced the lightning. Did he manipulate the electrons in the air, like what she does?

Captain America, Steve Rogers. From what they had researched, Rogers started out on the right path. He wanted to stand up for the little guy, defend those who couldn't fight back. Somewhere along the way, his views became twisted. Selfish. Such a shame to see such a bright potential fade, in Axel's opinion.

As a Guardian, her oath was to protect everyone, even if she had to die in the process. Axel had jumped in the way of bullets, knifes and lasers to save citizens. It was all worth it, in the end, when the Hunter could watch the families she saved be happy.

Now, glaring at the man, who the Avengers were calling The Winter Solider, she traded blows with him. She carefully kept an eye out for his metal arm. While he could crush steel with it, Axel was more worried that her armour will hurt him than her.

(Yes, she heard what happened to him. She just couldn't understand how Roger's could be so thick. Tony wanted to help Barnes and give him proper treatment, but apparently Roger thinks the best hands are his own. Selfish bastard.)

"Listen, you want to get rid of Hydra's programming?" She asked, twisting on her heel to duck a knee jab into her gut. Bucky wavered slightly in his fighting. Seeing her chance, Axel took it.

She ran at him, tackling him into the ground as a man suddenly became a giant. Keeping him pinned, she continued. "I know what it is like to follow a friend into a battle. But use your head! If you sign the Accords, you could help yourself and others by adding your input into the acco-"

Axel was roughly pulled off of Bucky, who watched with wide eyes. A fore-arm was across her throat, putting force on her windpipe. Axel choked, trying to kick or elbow jab at whoever was putting her in a choke hold.

Whoever it was, they were putting too much pressure on her windpipe. Axel choked, slowly becoming slack as her heart was beating rapidly, trying to oxygenate her muscles.

Axel felt it. She felt her windpipe become crushed. She was dropped, her head hitting the unforgiving pavement roughly. Axel couldn't move, couldn't breath. She watched with watering eyes as Captain America helped Bucky up, who was looking at Axel before Captain America pointed into the hanger, where Axel knew the Avenger's Quinjet was being stored.

Axel stared into the distance, eyes going glassy. For the last time, her heart gave its last weak contraction. Her brain, not receiving any oxygen, began to shut down. As Axel lay there, the battle continued around her now dead body.

It was how Peter, having been ordered to stay out of the fight after delaying Captain America, found her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I have been working on other essays, as well as trying to finish my art project (which I started over three years ago, don't judge!) and I've mainly been writing how I want to express my Master Plan.


	15. Chapter Fithteen - Aftermatch

Jessica, invisible to mortal eyes, stared down at the dead form of Axel. She could feel her Light, so pure and strong, and resisted the urge to take all of it for herself. She had to be patient, for her long term plan will be better if Axel is willing to...share some of her Light.

Her lip curled as one of the disgusting humans, dressed in red and blue, sat next to Axel, the puny mortal crying softly. Its tears gleamed like diamonds as they fell down the curve of its cheek. What a disgusting act, crying.

Jessica was glad her kind was above such a useless act.

The human reaked of Light, having it all over its form. It was a sign of friendship. Something Jessica, once she had convinced Axel she was someone to trust, would use to re-built her home. 

Jessica would be their savoir, their God. She would finally be worshipped, something that her previous peers failed to do. Well, it was why she executed them all and destroyed Hell's main support structure.

Her wings, black as the night sky, twitched with delight as Jhin appeared. Her mouth watered as she felt like she was suddenly starving. Jhin was the source of all of Axel's Light, and he smelled divine as power piratically reeked off his small shell, protecting the Traveler's Lights inside.

Hands twitching, Jessica watched in awe as Jhin's shell split apart, just for a second, to bring Axel back to life. His Light was blinding, as the mortal had to shield its eyes, but not Jessica. No, she was far superior than it.

Jessica committed the image to memory. Jhin's shell was gently moving around his Light, like a moon to a planet. It was beautiful, and Jessica was in awe. One day, the Light would be hers.

Axel coughed, her entire body shaking as she breathed her first breath. It was hagged, her windpipe still half crushed. The Light slowly fixed it, allowing Axel to breathe.

Jessica watched it all with greedy, hungry eyes.

"Axel, are you ok?! You died!" The human said, panic and relief in his voice as he hastily wiped away his tears.

"Peter?" Axel said his name roughly, slowly sitting up as Jhin hovered over her right shoulder. Her eyes widen when she remembered what happened, then narrowed in a glare as she spat. "Captain America."

"Escaped, with his metal armed friend," Peter said, huddling close to Axel. "But we got the rest of the Rouges, see?"

Peter pointed, with Axel following his finger. The Witch, Hawkeye, Falcon, size-changing man and....Axel smirked in glee once she saw Black Widow also in hand-cuffs, with an irritated Black Panther behind her.

Typical, the spider revealed her loyalties at last and now has to face consequence. It was also ironic that Captain America chose to leave his loyal team-mates to chase after a Ghost whose name is 'Bucky'.

"Axel!"

Axel startled, seeing Tony suddenly standing beside her and Peter. "Tony," she greeted, nodding slightly to him.

"I saw what happened. And since I know what happens when Jhin does his little light show, how bad was it?" Tony's worried gaze met her own. Axel stared into his dark eyes, slightly touched that he cared about her health. Usually, only Cayde displays that type of behaviour, while being a mama-bear of hell.

"Axel had a crushed wind-pipe and cracked skull, from the choke hold and when the so called Captain just threw her to the ground," Jhin darkly said. His usual bright optic was darkened with fury and anger, but also helplessness.

Tony sighed. "Rogers' knew must have known about your immortal life, or whatever you do to come back alive," he waved a gauntlet covered hand. "And I think I know how he knows that."

His gaze wandered over to Romanov, who looked up, sensing she was being watched. She stared back at Tony, gaze forever calm. Tony broke the staring contest by looking down at Axel.

"Come on kid," Tony said, holding out his hand for Axel to take. She gripped his hand and allowed Tony to pull her up. "You two can go home now. I've got everything handled here."

"Alright," Axel nodded. She then got a mischievous look on her face. "You know, I'm not a child. I have lived for nearly three hundred years, so technically, you are the child."

"Pssh," Tony rolled his eyes. "When you get wrinkles, then I'll stop calling you kid."

Axel smiled warmly. "Goodbye, Tony."

Tony nodded in return, flashing Axel and Peter his signature smirk before his helmet folded over his head as he turned, ready to hand the Rouges over to the American Government.

Axel sighed, turning to Peter. She was surprised to see Peter watching her, eyes narrowed slightly. "You made me think you died forever."

Oh. Right. Peter doesn't know about that part about being a Guardian. "I'll explain back home. Come on,"

Jessica turned away, spreading her mighty wings and leaving. While she does so, Jessica was plotting away on how to steal and use the Light.

Axel and Jhin were unaware of the deceiving fallen Angel as they happily chatted to Peter.

Jessica had calculated everything perfectly. She had simulated every Axel that could ever exist. She watched as Axel became a blood thirsty, revenge driven mad-woman that turned to Darkness, unable to cope with the loss of her Vanguard and mentor; Cayde-6.

Tempting, but that Axel had dabbled in Darkness, tainting her Light. Jessica would keep an eye out on that Universe, simply to watch as that Axel left a wave of corpses where ever she goes in search for Uldren Sov. (Her non-existing ovaries swooned. [1]) 

Axel was a Titan, Axel was an Warlock, Axel was killed in the Red War; it goes on and on. Through-out her simulations, Axel seemed to cope best with Cayde-6. So Jessica simply plucked him from his ship as he was flying towards the Prison of Elders with one of his Hunters in tow.

Of course, having watched the scene play out multiple times, Jessica knew what 'Cayde' went through. Once the 'Cayde''s purpose was complete, it died on the panicked Hunter and Petra. 

Dumping the memories of him dying into his processor was too easy. Fooling his Ghost, on the other hand, was much more complicated. Being created from Light, Jessica had to carefully drain the Ghost of all of its Light, allowing it to feel drained and weak, but happy that it survived. [2]

Jessica reaped the Light, already spent the Light by repairing Hell and Heaven. She left statues of herself, of course, saving her kind. Now, she needed to store Light in order to re-populate her kind.

Then, Jessica just had to wait for her moment 'to shine', as the disgusting humans say. She may have also sent the deranged Warlock free to gain Axel's trust. No one can prove that the Warlock was freed by her hand.

Jessica felt giddy. Her plan was coming together, slowly, but surely.

-

Peter decided to come back to America with Tony to make his Apprenticeship more believable. Axel had managed to stay unrecognised, mainly because they are in Germany and not many German's watch American News, but Axel still wore a scarf and beanie to hide her features, along with sunglasses, ignoring Jhin's smart ass comments about how she looks like a nerd.

Huffing, Axel simply calls him a smart-phone. Not one of her best comebacks, she will admit.

She managed to get through security easily with Jhin's help, his presence in the back of her mind comforting. Axel rested her cheek on her hand, lucky enough to receive the window seat.

Slowly, Axel closed her eyes, welcoming sleep. Jhin kept an optic out while his Guardian was asleep, gently hearing her thoughts, even while asleep. He gave the Ghost equivalent of a snort when he saw Axel picturing Azula and Omir as superhero's, with Azula's powers being able to use books as weapon and Omir having the power of social awkwardness.

Sounds accurate.

Axel woke up after the flight was over, when Jhin carefully nudged her awake. Grumbling, she rubbed her eyes behind her sunglasses before straightening them. Axel once again got through the border with little issue.

However, she was not expecting Cayde waiting for her at the pick up area of the airport. He had his arms crossed, a stern look on his face that made people give him a wide berth.  
"Oh no," Axel muttered to herself, Jhin echoing her statement.

"Axel, we need to have a talk about leaving the country without warning," Cayde said as soon as she was close, narrowing his eyes at her. Axel winced, knowing Cayde was using his Dad Voice.

Cayde turned, putting a helmet on and sat on a rather expensive looking motorcycle. It was a black Kawasaki Ninja H2R. He tossed a white helmet at Axel, who easily caught it.

"Get on," he said, looking straight ahead. 

Trying not to sulk, Axel removed her sunglasses and subtly placed them into Jhin's subspace before putting the helmet on. Sighing, Axel climbed onto the back of the motorcycle, pressing her front of Cayde's cold back. It was soothing, knowing that despite looking human, Cayde was still very much an exo.

Cayde, once he felt Axel wrap her arms around his stomach, drove off, heading towards their 'lair'.

Cayde decided to go shopping, knowing that if he had Sundance pull his Sparrow out from her subspace, it would gain attention. If not for the odd shape, then it would be noticed that it is very advanced (to modern(past?[3]) day) technology, even looking a bit alien (ha! Alien).

Having found the fastest mode of transport that is the most similar to his Sparrow, Cayde headed to wait for Axel at the airport, watching Germany's live News feed. Thankfully,  
Axel seemed to be in the background, the main focus on Iron Man V Captain America.

Of course Axel is getting involved in 'Superhero' business. As a rather nosy Hunter (which she totally does not get from him, don't try to point fingers), Axel tends to attract, and might sometimes create, trouble.

(Sometimes Cayde would weep upon seeing the paperwork for whatever shenanigans Axel would get into with Azula and Omir. Zavala and Ikora would simply stand awkwardly as Cayde would wail about how stupid they were, both silently agreeing with the Exo.)

Still, despite guilt welling up inside of his core at how Axel is sulking and knowing what will happen, Cayde is her Vanguard. He is her commander, and Axel must be punished accordingly. Cayde drove into their 'garage', Sundance closing the large door behind them.

Axel got off first, removing the helmet. She silently looked at him. Sundance placed his helmet into subspace, knowing that he won't touch it again. "Training room. Now."

Cayde followed Axel as she lead the way to the training room fitted for a Guardian. Placing his hands on his hips, Cayde looked around, the punishment coming to mind. The same one every time a Hunter disobeys him.

"I want you to do The Agility Course. Since I literally can't stop you from saving innocents, you will do this course two times a day. After two weeks, I might let you drop it down to once per day. Do you understand me, Hunter?"

"Yes, my Vanguard." Axel said, not meeting Cayde's optics.

"You may start." Cayde said, watching as Axel did the course. It was the only way for Cayde to punish his Hunters that wouldn't get in the way of their other duties as Guardians, while Zavala and Ikora would simply ban their class from activities for two months.

In Cayde's opinion, his fire-team were going about it the wrong way. After all, Cayde never sees the same Hunter twice after they complete the course.

The course, while sounding like torture, simply allows his Hunter's to learn their lesson while becoming more better at shooting, stamina, agility, core skills and other awesome stuff that makes a Hunter so great.

Cayde turns away, sitting on the ground and begins to pull Ace apart (something Cayde was happy for. Despite vaguely remembering Uldren stealing it, Cayde would not question why he had his prized gun back), he began to carefully clean and polish the hand cannon.

Still, Cayde has the feeling that he would feel too guilty and drop the punishment early. Curse Axel and her puppy dog eyes.

As expected, Cayde lasted one week.


End file.
